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THE 



POETRY AND HISTORY 



OF 



WYOMING: 



CONTAINING 



CAMPBELL'S GERTRUDE, 

AND THE 

HISTORY OF WYOMING FROM ITS DISCOVERY 

TO THE 

BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 
BY WILLIAM L. STONK. 

AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF BRANT, LIFE AND TIMES OF RED JACKET, ETC. 
THIRD EDITION, 

AVITH AN INDEX. X<^1^ 



« • • » ► 



ALBANY: 

J. MUNSELL, 78 STATE STREET. 

1864. 




' ■• ■ ^-x O r-.. 



/^ iOi^3C> 



r^)/ 



Publisher's Note. 



This edition of the Poetry and History of Wyo- 
ming was published in the city of New York in 
1844, as the second edition enlarged, by Mark 
Newman, an enterprising publisher, who died in 
1852, aged forty-seven. The author, however, 
died in the same year in which it was issued, aged 
fifty-two. The small remainder having come into 
the hands of the present owner, an index has been 
added to the work, and to distinguish this new 
issue for purchasers, it is published with a new 
title page as the third edition. 



PREFACE. 



The " Happy Valley " to which the illustrious author of 
Rasselas introduces his reader in the opening of that charm- 
ing fiction, was not much more secluded from the world than 
is the Valley of Wyoming. Situated in the interior of the 
country, remote from the great thorough-fares of travel, either 
for business, or in the idle chase of pleasure, and walled on 
every hand by mountains lofty and wild, and over which long 
and rugged roads must be travelled to reach it, W^yoming is 
rarely visited, except from stern necessity. And yet the im- 
agination of Johnson has not pictured so lovely a spot in the 
vale of Amhara as Wyoming. 

Much has been said and sung of the beauty of Wyoming ; 
yet but comparatively little is actually knov/n to the public 
of its histoiy. That a horrible massacre was once perpetrated 
there, and that the fearful tragedy has been commemorated 
in the undying numbers of Campbell, every body knows. 
But beyond this, it is believed that even what is called the 
reading public is but inadequately informed ; and there are 
thousands, doubtless, who would be surprised on being told 
that, independently of the event from which the poet has 
woven his thrilling tale of Gertrude, Wyoming has been the 
theatre of more historical action, and is invested with more 
historical interest, than any other inland district of the United 
States of equal extent. The revolutionary occurrence, sup- 
plying the Muse's theme in the beautiful tale just referred to, 
forms but a single incident in a course of fifty years of various 
and arduous conflict between belligerent parties of the same 
race and nation, each contending for the exclusive possession 
of that fair valley, and for the expulsion of the rival clain;- 



IV PREFACE. 

ants. Added to which is its antecedent Indian history, ex- 
tending back more than fifty years prior to the intrusion 
of the white man, and perhaps a hundred. The dusky In- 
dians were engaged in bloody strife with each other there, 
hand to hand and foot to foot. All that is fierce and brutal, 
selfish and unrelenting, bitter and vindictive, in the passions 
of men embroiled in civil strife, has been displayed there. 
All that is lofty in patriotism, — all that is generous, noble, 
and self-devoted in the cause of country and liberty, has been 
proudly called into action there. All that is true, confiding, 
self-denying, constant, heroic, virtuous, and enduring, in wo- 
man, has been sweetly illustrated there. 

Nevertheless the remark may be repeated that but com- 
paratively little of the actual history of this secluded district, 
— a history marked by peculiar interest, and a district upon 
which nature has bestowed beauty, with a lavish hand, — is 
known to the general reader. True, indeed, Wyoming is 
mentioned in almost every book of American history written 
since the Revolution, as the scene o^ the massacre; but for 
the most part, that is the only occurrence spoken of; the 
only fact that has been rescued from the rich mine of its his- 
toric lore. The reader of poetry has probably dreamed of 
"Wyoming as an Elysian field, among the groves of which the 
fair Gertrude was wont to stray while listening to the music 
of the birds and gathering wild-flowers ; and the superficial 
reader of every thing has regarded it as a place existing some- 
where, in which the Indians once tomahawked a number of 
people. 

And yet Wyoming has had its own historian. More than 
twenty years ago a gentleman resident there, Mr. Isaac Chap- 
man, undertook the preparation of a history, but he died 
before his work was completed. His manuscripts, however, 
were edited and published some years after his death ; but 
the work was very incomplete. The preliminary Indian his- 
tory was merely glanced at, while that of the revolutionary 
war was hurried over in the most imperfect and unsatisfac- 
tory manner possible. It was not Avritten in a popular style, 



PREFACE. 



nor published in an attractive form. The author, moreover, 
in regard to the protracted controversy between the Connec- 
ticut settlers and the Pennsylvanians, was governed by strong 
partialities in favor of the former. Proud's History of Penn- 
sylvania comes down no later than 1770 ; and from this it 
could scarcely be gathered that there was any such spot as 
Wyoming known. Gordon's late History only comes down 
to the Declaration of American Inflependence. He has, in- 
deed, devoted some twenty or thirty pages to the early stages 
of the civil contest in Wyoming, but he writes as though he 
had been a paid counsellor of the old Ogden Land Company, 
which so long and vainly strove to dispossess the Connecticut 
settlers. An impartial history, therefore, was a desideratum, 
and such I have attempted to supply, written in the style of 
popular narrative, confined to facts without speculation, and 
divested entirely of documentary citations. 

My own attention was directed to W^'oming as a field of 
historical investigation only about three years ago, when en-, 
gaged in preparing for the press the Border Wars of the 
Revolution, as connected with the Life of the Mohawk chief- 
tain, Brant. It became necessary, in executing the plan of 
that work, to examine the history of Wyoming, so far at least 
as it had been connected, — most erroneously, — with the 
name of that distinguished warrior of the woods ; and I soon 
discovered so much of interest in the tales and traditions of 
the valley — its history, written and unwritten, — indepen.. 
dently of the war of the revolution, — that I resolved upon 
the institution of farther investigations at some more conve- 
nient season. 

Keeping this object uppermost in my mind, 1 made a visit 
of relaxation and pleasure to Wyoming in the summer of 
1839, the result of which, through the kind assistance of my 
friend Charles Miner, and also of his nephew, Doctor Miner, 
was a collection of authentic materials sufficient for a small 
volume appertaining to the history of that valley alone. 

The name of Mr. Miner will frequently appear in the notes 
and references of the present volume. He is an able man, a 
1# 



VI PREFACE. 

native of Norwich, Connecticut, and emigrated to the Valley 
of Wyoming in the year ]799, — being then nineteen years of 
age. He first engaged in school teacliing. Having a bro- 
ther, a year or two older than himself, who was a practical 
printer, he invited him to join him in his sylvan retreat, and 
establish a newspaper. The brother did so ; and the twain 
conjointly established the " Luzerne Federalist." This paper 
was subsequently superseded by " The Gleaner,'' but under 
the same editorial conduct, — that of Charles Miner. It was 
through the columns of the Gleaner that Mr. Miner, for a 
long series of months, instructed and amused the American 
people by those celebrated essays of morals and wit, of fact 
and fancy, and delicate humor, purporting to come "From 
the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe," and which were very 
generally republished in the newspapers. The Gleaner and 
its editor became so popular, that the latter was invited to 
Philadelphia, as associate editor of the "Political and Com- 
mercial Register," so long and favorably known under the 
conduct of the late Major Jackson. 

Not liking the metropolis as well as he did the country, 
Mr. Miner soon retired to the pleasant town of Westchester, 
eighteen miles from Philadelphia, wliere, in connexion with 
his brother Asher, who had also removed from Wilkesbarre, 
he established the Village Record, — a paper wliich became 
as popular for its good taste, and the delicacy of its humor, 
as the Gleaner had been aforetime. Poor Robert here wrote 
again under the signature of " John Harwood." While a 
resident of Westchester, Mr. Miner was twice successively 
elected to Congress, in a double district, as a colleague of the 
present Senator Buchanan. 

While in Congress Mr. Miner showed himself not only a 
useful, but an able member. In the subject of slavery he 
took a deep interest, laboring diligently in behalf of those 
rational measures for its melioration which were doing great 
good before a different feeling was infused into the minds of 
many benevolent men, and a different impulse imparted to 
their action on this subject. There is another act for 



PREFACE. Vll 

which Mr. Miner deserves all praise. It was he who awa- 
kened the attention of the country to the silk-growing busi- 
ness. He drew and introduced the first resolution upon the 
subject, and wrote the able report which was introduced by 
the late General Stephen Van Rensselaer, as chairman of 
the committee on agriculture, to whom that resolution had 
been referred. 

It is now about eight years since Mr. Miner relinquished 
business in Westchester, and, with his brother, returned to 
Wyoming, where both have every promise of spending the 
evening of their days most happily. 

But to return from this digression : A farther illustration of 
the history of Wyoming having been determined on, the 
next question presented was the manner in which it should 
be brought out. The idea occurred to me, when about to 
commence the composition of the historical portion of the 
present volume, six weeks ago, to prefix to the history, the 
2>octry of Campbell, — thus comprising, in a single portable 
volume, the Poetry and History of Wyoming. This sug- 
gestion was approved by Messrs. Wiley and Putnam, who 
are to be the publishers; and in addition to all, Mr. Wash- 
ington Irving has kindly furnished a biographical sketch of 

the author of Gertrude. 

W. L. S. 
New-York, Dec. Sotli, 1840. 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



The author of this little volume — or rather of that portion 
of it which is offered to the public as original — was induced 
to believe that neither the poem and notes of Campbell, nor the 
brief and imperfect notices to be found in works of general 
history, were capable of affording that information respecting 
the murderous assault upon Wyoming, with wJiich readers 
would rest satisfied ; that the melancholy story possessed in- 
terest enough to demand a more complete and faithful narra- 
tive. Favoring circumstances had enabled him to collect the 
materials for this purpose ; and he thought them worthy of 
being presented to the American people. 

The result proved that his opinion was not fallacious. The 
first edition was speedily taken up, and the continued inquiry 
for the work has made it his duty to publish a second. The 
publication of the volume has been the means of bringing to 
his knowledge additional facts of value, and some few cor- 
rections, all of which have been incorporated in this new, en- 
larged and revised edition. 

W. L. S. 

Nkw-York, October, 1843. 



A 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

OF 

THOMAS CAMPBELL, 

BY 

WASHINGTON IRVING. 



It has long been admitted as a lamentable truth, that au- 
thors seldom receive impartial justice from the world, while 
living. The graves seem to be the ordeal to which in a manner 
their names must be subjected, and from whence, if wortliy of 
immortality, they rise with pure and imperishable lustre. Here 
many, who through the caprice of fashion, the influence of 
rank and fortune, or the panegyrics of friends, have enjoyed 
an undeserved notoriety, descend into oblivion, and it may 
literally be said " they rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them." Here likewise many an ill-starred 
author, after struggling with penury and neglect, and starv- 
ing through a world he has enriched by his talents, sinks to 
rest, and becomes an object of universal admiration and re- 
gret. The sneers of the cynical, the detractions of the envi- 
ous, thescoffings of the ignorant, are silenced at the hallowed 
precincts of the tomb ; and the world awakens to a sense of 
his value, when he is removed beyond its patronage for ever. 
Monuments are erected to his memory, books are written in 
his praise, and mankind will devour with avidity the biogra- 
phy of a man, whose life was passed unheeded before their 
eyes. He is like some canonized saint, at whose shrine 



X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

treasures are lavished and clouds of incense offered up, 
though while living the slow hand of charity withheld the 
pittance that would have relieved his necessities. 

But this tardiness in awarding merit its due, this prefer- 
ence continually shown to departed authors, over living ones 
of perhaps superior excellence, may be ascribed to more 
charitable motives than those of envy and ill-nature. Of the 
former we judge almost exclusively by their works. We 
form our opinion of the whole flow of their minds and the 
tenor of their dispositions from the volumes they have left 
behind ; without considering that these are like so many 
masterly portraits, presenting their genius in its most auspi- 
cious moments, and noblest attitudes, when its powers were 
collected by solitude and reflection, assisted by study, stimu- 
lated by ambiton and elevated by inspiration. We witness 
nothing of the mental exhaustion and languor which follow 
these guehes of genius. We behold the stream only in the 
epring-tide of its current, and conclude that it has always 
been equally profound in its depth, pure in its wave, and ma- 
jestic in its course. 

Living authors, on the contrary, are continually in public 
view, and exposed to the full glare of scrutinizing familiarity. 
Though we may occasionally wonder at their eagle soarings, 
yet we soon behold them descend to our own level, and often 
sink below it. Their habits of seclusion make them less 
easy and engaging in society than the mere man of fashion, 
whose only study is to please. Their ignorance of the com- 
mon topics of the day, and of matters of business, frequently 
makes them inferior in conversation to men of ordinary ca- 
pacities, while the constitutional delicacy of their minds and 
irritability of their feelings, make them prone to more than 
ordinary caprices. At one time solitary and unsocial, at an- 
other listless and petulant, often trifling among the frivolous, 
and not unfrequently the dullest among the dull. All these 
circumstances tend to diminish our respect and admiration of 
their mental excellence, and show clearly, that authors, like 
actors, to be impartially critized, should never be known be- 
hind the scenes. 



OF THOMAS CA3IPBELL. XI 

Such are a few of the causes that operate in Europe to de- 
fraud an author of the candid judgment of his countrymen, 
but tlieir influence does not extend to this side of the Atlantic. 
We are placed, in some degree, in the situation of posterity. 
The vast ocean that rolls between us, like a space of time, 
removes us beyond the sphere of personal favor, personal 
prejudice, or personal familiarity. An European work, there- 
fore, appears before us depending simply on its intrinsic mer- 
its. We have no private friendship nor party purpose to 
serve by magnifying the author's merits, and in sober sadness 
the humble state of our national literature places us far be- 
low any feeling of national rivalship. 

But while our local situation thus enables us to exercise the 
enviable impartiality of posterity, it is evident we must share 
likewise in one of its disadvantages. We are in as complete 
ignorance respecting the biography of most living authors of 
celebrity, as though they had existed ages before our time, 
and indeed are better informed concerning the character and 
lives of authors who have long since passed away, than of 
those who are actually adding to the stores of European 
literature. Few think of writing tlie anecdotes of a dis- 
tinguished character while living. His intimates, who of 
course are most capable, are prevented by their very inti- 
macy, little thinking that those domestic habits and peculiar- 
ities, which an every day's acquaintance has made so trite 
and familiar to themselves, can be objects of curiosity to all 
the world besides. Thus then we who are too distant to 
gather those particulars concerning foreign authors, that are 
circulated from mouth to mouth in their native countries, 
must content ourselves to remain in almost utter ignorance ; 
unless perchance some friendly magazine now and then gives 
us a meagre and apocryphal account of them, which rather 
provokes than satisfies our curiosity. A proof of these asser- 
tions will be furnished in the following sketch, which, unsat- 
isfactory as it is, contains all the information we can collect, 
concerning a British poet of rare and exquisite endowments. 
Thomas Campbell was born at Glasgow on the 27th Sep- 



XU BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

tember, 1777. He was the youngest son of Mr. Alexander 
Campbell, a merchant of that city, highly spoken of for his 
amiable manners and unblemished integrity; who united the 
scholar and the man of business, and amidst the engrossing 
cares and sordid pursuits of business, cherished an enthusias- 
tic love of literature. 

It may not be uninteresting to the American reader to 
know that Mr, Campbell, the poet, had near connexions in 
this country. His father passed several years of his youth 
at Falmouth, in Virginia, but returned to Europe before the 
revolutionary war. His uncle, who had accompanied his 
father across the Atlantic, remained in Virginia, where his 
family uniformly maintained a highly respectable station in 
society. One of his sons was district attorney under the ad- 
ministration of Washington, and was celebrated for his de- 
meanor. He died in 171J5. Robert Campbell, a brother of 
the poet, settled in Virginia, where he married a daughter of 
the celebrated Patrick Henry. He died about 1807. 

The genius of Mr. Campbell showed itself almost in his 
infancy. At the age of seven he displayed a vivacity of im- 
agination and a vigor of mind surprising in such early youth. 
He now commenced the study of Latin under the care of the 
Rev. David Alison, a teacher of distinguished reputation. A 
strong inclination for poetry was already discernible in 
him, and it was not more than two years after this, that, as 
we are told, " he began to try his wings." None of the first 
flutterings of his muse, however, have been preserved, but 
they had their effect in rendering him an object of favor 
and attention, aided no doubt by his personal beauty, his 
generous sensibility, and the gentleness and modesty of his 
deportment. At twelve he entered the university of Glasgow, 
and in the following year gained a bursary on Bishop Leigh- 
ton's foundation, for a translation of one of the comedies of 
Aristophanes, which he executed in verse. This triumph was 
the more honorable from being gained after a hard contest 
over a rival candidate of nearly twice his age, who was con- 
sidered one of the best scholars in the university. His second 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XHI 

prize-exercise was the translation of a tragedy of ^schylus, 
likewise in verse, which he gained without opposition, as 
none of the students would enter the lists with him. He 
continued seven years in the university, during which time 
his talents and application were testified by yearly academical 
prizes. He was particularly successful in his translations 
from the Greek, in which language he took great delight; 
and on receiving his last prize for one of these performances, 
the Greek professor publicly pronounced it the best that had 
ever been produced in the university. 

He made equal proficiency in other branches of study 
especially in Moral Philosophy; he attended likewise the 
academical course of Law and Physic, but pursued none of 
these studies with a view to a profession. On the contrary, 
the literary passion, we are told, was already so strong with 
him, that he could not endure the idea of devoting himself to 
any of the dull and sordid pursuits of busy life. His father 
influenced by his own love of literature, indulged those way- 
ward fancies in his son, building fond hopes on his early dis- 
play of talent. At one time, it is true, a part of the family 
expressed a wish that he should be fitted for the Church, but 
this was overruled by the rest, and he was left without fur- 
ther opposition to the impulses of his genius, and the seduc- 
tions of the muse. 

After leaving the university he passed some time among 
the mountains of Argyleshire, at the seat of Colonel Napier, 
a descendant of Napier Baron Merchester, the celebrated in- 
ventor of logarithims. It is suggested that he may have im- 
bibed from this gentleman his taste and knowledge of the 
military arts, traces of which are to be seen throughout his 
poems. From Argyleshire he went to Edinburgh, where the 
reputation he had acquired at the university gained him a 
favorable reception into the literary and scientific circles of 
that intellectual city. Among others he was particularly 
noticed by professors Stewart and Playfair. To the ardor 
and elevation of mind awakened by such associates may we 
ascribe, in a great measure, the philosophical spirit and moral 

2 



XIV Jinx; li \ I'll i( A r, sur/rcir 

8ublimil.y displjiyr'd in Ii'ik llisl. jji-odiiction, " Tlio ri(Nisiircs of 
J lope," wril.lcii diiriiii;- liis rcHidcnci' hi JOdiiiburoli, wlicu he 
was lull, iwi'iily years of a^d. 

Iiicxper'uMiccd in aullioisliip, and (l()u])l,l'iil of snccoss, lie 
disposed of lln' C(ipy-ii<>lil, ol" liis poem for an iiiconsidcrahle 
(sum. It w:\H rci'.tMvi'd l>y llic piildic. with acclamation, Jind 
lai^ l.lironi>h two oditionn in tho courso of a few months, when 
liis bookseller permitted him to pnblisii a splendid edition for 
liimself, by w bicli means lie was enabled in some measure, to 
jiartieipale in tlie inddeii liarvest of his talent,. llisyrcat 
reward, however, was tlu- brii^lit and (>nduriny reputation 
whiyh he instantly ac(|uired, as one of the legitimate line of 
]5rllish poets. 

The passion for Cernian literature which prevailed at this 
time in (Jreat liritiaii, awakeiu-d a d(>eire in Mr. Campbell to 
study it at the fountain head. This, added to a curiosity to 
visit Ibreion parts, induced him to embark i'or Cermany in 
the year ISOO. ile had orii^inally fixed ui)on the colleoe of 
Jena for his lirst place of residence", but on arrivin<;' at llain- 
bur;;!! he Ibund, b}' the public i)rints, that a victory had been 
oained by the French near Ulm, and that Munich and the 
heart of IJavaria were the theatre of an interestino- w'ar. 
'M)ne nionuMit's sensation," he observes in a letter to a rela- 
tion in this eountry, " the sin^jile hoj)e of seeino* human na- 
ture e.xhibilt'd in its most dreadt'nl attitude, overturutMl my 
])ast decisions. 1 got down to the scat of war some weeks 
befon* th(> summer armistice of ISOO, and indulged in what 
you will call the criminal curiosity of witnessing' blood and 
desolation. Never sluill time elface from my memory the 
recollection of that hour of'astonishment and suspended breath, 
wlieii I stood with the good monks of St. Jacob, to overlook a 
charge of Kh>naw's cavalry ui)on the French under Grennier, 
encamped below us. We saw the fire given and returned, 
and heard distinctly the sound of the French ^j«.s- ile c/iurirc^ 
collecting the lines to attack in close column. After three 
hours' awaiting the issue of a severe* actio)i, a park of artil- 
lery was opened just beneath the walls of the monastery) and 



or TIfOMAS CAMIMiKLr,. XV 

Kovcral wagonorH tli.if, w^-rc Klnl/ioin-d to convry Ihr; vvouiidcd 
in H[)fiii;;r wairons, w(tro killi.'d \n our Hi;r|it. My love ofriftvol- 
ty now <>;i.v(' \v;iy l,o personal fears J took a carria<i-e in com- 
pany vvilli an Austrian suriyjeon back to Landshut," cVc. 'J'JTiH 
awful spectacle lie has dftscrihcd witli all the poet's fm;, in 
his Jiatllo of" llohenlinden ; a, poem which pc!rhaj)H contains 
more grandeur and niiirtiai siihiiinily, than is to ix; found any 
where else in the same comj)ass of Kn<rlish poetry. 

From Landshut Mr. Cami)l)ell proceeded to Jlatisbon, wlioro 
lie was at the time it was taken possession of hy the i''r<'nch 
and expected as an Enfrlishinan to he iiiiidr' prisom r, hut lie 
observes " Moreau's army was niuh-r such excijih-nt dis<;ipliiie, 
and the behavior both of officers and men so civil, th;it I soim 
nfiAed ;iriif)n;r them wiUioiit hesitation, and formed many 
•,i<rrc('ii\)lv. acfpiaiiitances at the messes of their \>r\<r:i(kt sta- 
tioned in tf)wn, to which their chef dc, hriiiadc often invited 
me. 'J'his worthy man, ('oloiicl iiC J'"ort, wliose kindness 1 
shall ever remember with <»ratitu(!e, gave me a protection' to 
pass through tin; whole army of Moreau." 

After this lie visitr'd (jiil'cient p;i.rts of (jlerm.'iny, in the 
course of which he j)a.id om; of the casual taxes on travelling, 
being plun(l(;red ;itnong tlu; 'ryrf)lese mountains, \)y a sfjfdin- 
drel (Jroat, of his f;lotlies, his bor)ks, and thirty ducats in gold. 
About midwinter lu; returned to JJamburgh, where he re- 
mained four months, in tJie expectation of accompanying a 
young gentleman of IMinburgh in a tour to Constantinople. 
IJis unceasing thirst for knowledge, and his habits of indus- 
trious application, pr<;venled these months from passinc 
liea,vily or unprofitably. " My time at liamburgli," he ob- 
serves, in one of his letters, " was chiefly employ(;d in r(;;i fl- 
ing G(;rman, and, 1 am almost ashamed to confess it, for 
twelvf! successive weeks in the study of Kant's Philosoj)liy, 
1 had heard so much of it in Gf-rmany, its language was so 
new to me, and the possibility of its application to so many 
purposes in the different theories of science and belles-lettr(!S 
was so constantly maintained, that I began to suspect Kant 
might be another 13acon, and blamed myself for not perceiving 



XVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

his merit. Distrusting my own imperfect acquaintance with 
tlie German, I took a Disciple of Kant's for a guide through 
his philosophy, but found, even with all this fai?- play ^nothing 
to reward my labor. Kis metaphysics are mere innovations 
upon the received meaning of words, and the coinage of new 
ones convey no more instruction than the distinctions of Dun 
Scotus and Thomas Aquinas. In belles-lettres, the German 
language opens a richer field than in their philosophy. 1 
cannot conceive a more perfect poet than their favorite Wie- 
land." 

While in Germany an edition of his Pleasures of Hope was 
proposed for publication in Vienna, but was forbidden by the 
court, in consequence of those passages which relate to Kos- 
ciusko, and the partition of Poland. Being disappointed in 
his projected visit to Constantinople, he returned to England 
in 1801, after nearly a year's absence, which had been passed 
much to his satisfaction and improvement, and had stored his 
mind with grand and awful images. " I remember," says he, 
" how little I valued the art of painting before I got into the 
heart of such impressive scenes; but in Germany, I would 
have given anything to have possessed an art capable of con- 
veying ideas inaccessible to speech and writing. Some par- 
ticular scenes were indeed rather overcharged with that de- 
gree of the terrific which oversteps the sublime, and 1 own 
my flesh yet creeps at the recollection oi! spring rvagons and 
hospitals — but the siglit of Jngolstadt in ruins, or Hohenlin- 
den covered with fire, seven miles in circumference, were 
spectacles never to be forgotten." 

On returning to England, he visited London for the first 
time, where, though unprovided with a single letter of intro- 
duction, the celebrity of his writings procured him the imme- 
diate notice and attentions of the best society. The following 
brief sketch which he gives of a literary club in London, will 
be gratifying to those who have felt an interest in the anec- 
dotes of Addison and his knot of beaux espritsa.t Button's cof- 
fee house, and Johnson and his learned fraternity at the 
Turk's head. — " Mackintosh, the Vindiciae Gallicse was par- 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XVll 

ticularly attentive to me, and took me with him to his conviv- 
ial parties at the King of Clubs, a place dedicaied to the 
meetings of the reigning wits of London, and, in fact, a lineal 
descendant of the Johnson, Burke, and Goldsmith society, con- 
stituted for literary conversations. The dining table of these 
knights of literature was an arena of very keen conversational 
rivalship, maintained, to be sure, with perfect good nature, but 
in which the gladiators contended as hardly as ever the 
French and Austrians in the scenes I had just witnessed. 
Much, however, as the wit and erudition of these men pleases 
an auditor of the first or second visit, this trial of minds be- 
comes at last fatiguing, because it is unnatural and unsatis- 
factory. Every one of these brilliants goes their to shine; 
for conversational powers are so much the rage in London, 
that no reputation is higher than his who exhibits them. 
Where every one tries to instruct, there is in fact but little in- 
struction : wMt, paradox, eccentricity, even absurdity, if deliv- 
ered rapidly and facetiously, takes priority in these societies 
of sound reasonings and delicate taste. I have watched 
sometimes the devious tide of conversation, guided by ac- 
cidental associations, turning from topic to topic and satis- 
factory upon none. "What has one learned ? has been my 
general question. The mind, it is true, is electrified and 
quickened, and the spirits finely exhilarated, but one grand 
fault pervades the whole institution ; their inquiries are 
desultory, and all improvements to be reaped must be acci- 
dental." 

The friendship of Mrs. Siddons was another acquisition, of 
which Mr. Campbell spoke with great pleasure ; and what 
rendered it more gratifying was its being unsought for. It 
was the means of introducing him to much excellent society 
in London. " The character of that great woman," he ob- 
serves, " is but little understood, and more misrepresented 
than any living character I know, by those who envy her rep- 
utation, or by those of tlie aristocracy, whom her irresistible 
dio-nity oblio-es to pay their homage at a respectable distance. 
The reserve of her demeanor is banished toward those who 

2* - 



XVIll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

show neither meanness in flattering her, nor forwardness in 
approaching her too familiarly. The friends of her fireside 
are only such as she talks to and talks of with aiiection and 
respect. 

The recent visit of Mr. Campbell to the continent had 
increased rather than gratified his desire to travel. He now 
contemplated another tour, for the purpose of improving him- 
self in the knowledge of foreign languages and foreign man- 
ners in the course of which he intended to visit Italy and pass 
some time at Rome. From this plan he was diverted, most 
probably by an attachment he formed to a Miss Sinclair, a dis- 
tant relation, whom he married in 1803. This change in his 
situation naturally put an end to all his wandering propensi- 
ties, and he established himself at Sydenham in Kent, near 
London, where he devoted himself to literature. Not long 
afterward he received a solid and flattering token of the royal 
approbation of his poem of the Pleasures of Hope in a pension 
of 200Z. What made this mark of royal favor the more grat- 
ifying was, that it was granted for no political services render- 
ed or expected. Mr. Campbell was not of the court party, 
but of the constitutional whigs. He has uniformly, botli be- 
fore and since, been independent in his opinions and writings ; 
a sincere and enthusiastic lover of liberty, and advocate for 
popular rights. 

Though withdrawn from the busy world in his retirement 
at Sydenham, yet the genius of Mr. Campbell, like a true 
brilliant, occasionally flashed upon the public eye in a num- 
ber of exquisite little poems, which appeared occasionally in 
the periodical works of the day. Among these were Hohen- 
linden and Lochiel, exquisite gems, sufficient of themselves 
to establish his title to the sacred name of poet: and the 
Mariners of England and tlie Battle of the Baltic, two of the 
noblest national songs ever written, fraught with sublime 
imagery and lofty sentiments, and delivered in a gallant 
swelling vein, that lifts the soul into heroics. 

In the beginning of 1809, he gave to the public his Ger- 
trude of Wyoming, connected with the fortunes ofoneof our 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XXI 

little pitriarclial villages on the banks of the Susquehannah, 
laid desolate by the Indians during our revolutionary war- 
There is no great scope in the story of this poem, nor any very 
skilful development of the plan, but it contains passages of 
exquisite grace, and tenderness, and others of spirit and gran- 
deur ; and the character of Outalissi is a classic delineation 
of one of our native savages : — 

A stoic of the wood?, a man without a tear. 

What gave this poem especial interest in our eyes at the time 
of its appearance, and awakened a strong feeling of good will 
toward the author, was, that it related to our own country, 
and was calculated to give a classic charm to some of our own 
home scenery. The following remarks were elicited from us 
at the time, though the subsequent lapse of thirty years has 
improved the cogency of many of them, 

" We have so long been accustomed to experience little 
else than contumely, misrepresentation, and very witless rid- 
icule from the British press; and we have had such repeated 
proof of the extreme ignorance and absurd errors that pre- 
vail in Great Britain respecting our country and its inhabit- 
ants, tha,t we confess, we were both surprised and gratified to 
meet with a poet, sufficiently unprejudiced to conceive an idea 
of moral excellence and natural beauty on this side of the 
Atlantic. Indeed even this simple show of liberality has 
drawn on the poet the censures and revilings ol' a host of 
narrow-minded writers, with whom liberality to this country is 
a crime. We are sorry to see such pitiful manifestations of 
hostility toward us. Indeed we must say, that we consider 
the constant acrimony and traduction indulged by the Brit- 
ish press, toward this country, to be as opposite to the inter- 
est as it is derogatory to the candor and magnanimity of the 
nation. It is operating to widen the difference between two 
nations, which, if left to the impulse of their own feelings, 
would naturally grow together, and among the sad changes 
of this disastrous world, be mutual supports and comforts to 
each other. 



XX BIOGRAPHICAL SKKTCH 

" Whatever may be the occasional collisions of etiquette 
and interest which will inevitably take place between two 
great commercial nations, whose property and people are 
spread far and wide on the face of the ocean ; whatever may 
be the clamorous expressions of hostility vented at such times 
by our unreflecting populace, or rather uttered in their name 
by a host of hireling scribblers, who pretend to speak the sen- 
timents of the people ; it is certain, that the well educated 
and well informed class of our citizens entertain a deep root- 
ed good-will, and a rational esteem for Great Britian. It is 
almost impossible it should be otherwise. Independent of 
those hereditary affections, which spring up spontaneously 
for the nation from whence we have descended, the single 
circumstance of imbibing our ideas from the same authors, 
has a powerful effect in causing an attachment. 

" The writers of Great Britain are the adopted citizens of 
our country, and, though they have no legislative voice, ex- 
ercise a powerful influence over our opinions and affections. 
In these works we have British valor, British magnanimity, 
British might, and British wisdom continually before our 
eyes, portrayed in the most captivating colors, and are thus 
brought up, in constant contemplation of all that is amiable 
and illustrious in the British character. To these works like- 
wise we resort, in every varying mood of mind, or vicissitude 
of fortune. They are our delight in the hour of relaxation; 
the solemn monitors and instructors of our closet ; our com- 
forters under the gloom of despondency. In the season of 
early life, in the strength of manhood, and still in the 
weakness and apathy of age, it is to them we are indebted 
for our hours of refined and unalloyed enjoyment. When we 
turn our eyes to England, therefore, from whence this boun- 
teous tide of literature pours in upon us, it is with such feel- 
ings as the Egyptian, when he looks toward the sacred 
source of that stream, which, rising in a far distant country, 
flows down upon his own barren soil, diffusing riches, beauty, 
and fertility. 

" Surely it cannot be the interest of Great Britian to trifle 



OF THOMAS CAiilPBKLL. XXI 

with such feelings. Surely the good-will, thus cherished 
among the best hearts of a countrj, rapidly increasing in 
power and importance, is of too much consequence to be 
scornfully neglected or surlil}'- dashed away. It most cer- 
tainly therefore would be both politic and honorable, for 
those enlightened British writers, who sway the sceptre of 
criticism, to expose these constant misrepresentations and 
discountenance these galling and unworthy insults of the 
pen, whose effect is to mislead and to irritate, without serving 
one valuable purpose. They engender gross prejudices 
in great Britian, inimical to a proper national understanding, 
while with us they wither all those feelings of kindness and 
consanguinity, that were shooting forth, like so many ten- 
drils, to attach us to our parent country. 

" While therefore we regard the poem of Mr Campbell 
with complacency, as evincing an opposite spirit to this, of 
which we have just complained, there are other reasons like- 
wise, which interest us in its favor. Among the lesser evils, 
incident to the infant state of our country, we have to lament 
its almost total deficiency in those local associations produced 
by history and moral fiction. These may appear trivial to 
the common mass of readers ; but the mind of taste and sensi- 
bility will at once acknowledge it, as constituting a great 
source of national pride, and love of country. There is an 
inexpressible charm imparted to every place, that has been 
celebrated by the historian, or immortalized by the poet; a 
charm that dignifies it in the eyes of the stranger, and endears 
it to the heart of the native inhabitant. Of this romantic at- 
traction we are almost entirely destitute. While every insig- 
nificant hill and turbid stream in classic Europe has been 
hallowed by the visitations of the muse, and contemplated 
with fond enthusiasm ; our lofty mountains and stupendous 
cataracts excite no poetical feelings, and our majestic rivers 
roll their waters unheeded, because unsung. 

" Thus circumstanced, the sweet strains of Mr. Campbell's 
muse break upon us as gladly as would the pastoral pipe of 
the sheperd, amid the savage solitude of one of our trackless 



XXll ' BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

wildernesses. We are delighted to witness the air of capti- 
vatincr romance, and rural beauty our native fields and wild 
woods can assume under the plastic pencil of a master ; and 
while wandering with the poet among the shady groves of 
Wyoming, or along the banks of the Susquehanna, almost 
fancy ourselves transported to the side of some classic stream, 
in the " hollow breastof Appenine." This may assist to con- 
vince many, who were before slow to believe, that our own 
country is capable of inspiring the highest poetic feelings and 
furnishing abundance of poetic imagery, though destitute of 
the hackneyed materials of poetry ; though its groves are not 
vocal with the song of the nightingale ; though no naiads 
have ever sported in its streams, nor satyrs and driads gam- 
bolled among its forests. Wherever nature displays herself 
in simple beauty or wild magnificence, and wherever the hu- 
man mind appears in new and striking situations, neither the 
poet nor the philosopher can want subjects worthy of his 
genius." 

As we before remarked, the lapse of thirty years has mate- 
rially impaired the cogency of the forgoing remarks. The 
acrimony and traduction of the British press produced the 
effect apprehended, and contributed to hasten a war between 
the two nations. That war, however, made us completely a 
nation, and destroyed our mental dependence on England 
forever. A literature of our own has subsequently sprung 
up, and is daily increasing with wonderful fecundity; prom- 
ising to counteract the undue influence of British literature, 
and to furnish us with productions in all departments of 
taste and knowledge, illustrative of our country, its history 
and its people, and in harmony with our condition and the 
nature of our institutions. 

We have but a word or two to add concerning Mr. Camp- 
bell. In 1810 he published " O'Connor's Child, or Love lies 
Bleeding," an uncommonly spirited and affecting little tale. 
Since then he has given at intervals a variety of minor poems 
to the public, all possessing the same beauty of thought and 
delicacy of finish that distinguished his early productions. If 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XXIU 

some disappointment has been experienced by his admirers, 
that he has not effected any of those grand achievements in 
poetry which had been anticipated from his juvenile perfor- 
mances, they should congratulate themselves that he has nev- 
er sunk from the pure and elevated height to which lie so sud- 
denly attained. Many years since, we hailed the productions 
of his muse as " beaming forth like the pure lights of heav- 
en, among the meteor exhalations and paler fires with which 
our literary atmosphere abounds;" since that time many of 
those meteors and paler fires that dazzled and bewildered the 
public eye, have fallen to the earth and passed away, and still 
we find his poems like the stars, shining on, with undiminish- 
ed lustre. 



^. 



GERTEUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART I. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

Most of the popular histories of England, as well as of 
the American war, give an authentic account of the desola- 
tion of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania, which took place in 1778, 
by an incursion of the Indians. The scenery and incidents of 
the following Poem are connected with that event. The tes- 
timonies of historians and travellers concur in describing the 
infant colony as one of the happiest spots of human existence, 
for the hospitable and innocent manners of the inhabitants, 
the beauty of the country, and the luxuriant fertility of the 
soil and climate. In an evil hour, the junction of European 
with Indian arms converted this terrestrial paradise into a 
frightful waste. Mr. Isaac Weld informs us that the ruins 
of many of the villages, perforated with balls, and bearing 
marks of conflagration, were still preserved by the recent in- 
habitants, when he travelled through America, in 1796. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART I. 

I. 

On Susquehannah's side, fair Wyoming ! 
Although the wild-flower on thy ruin'd wall, 
And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring 
Of what thy gentle people did befall, 
Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all 
Thiat see the Atlantic wave their morn restore. 
Sweet land ! may I thy lost delights recall, 
And paint thy Gertrude in her bowers of yore, 
Whose beauty was the love of Pennsylvania s 
shore ! 

II. 

Delightful Wyoming ! beneath thy skies, 
The happy shepherd swains had nought to do 
But feed their flocks on green declivities, 
Or skim perchance thy lake with light canoe. 
From morn till evening's sweeter pastime grew. 
With timbrel, when beneath the forests brown, 
Thy lovely maidens would the dance renew ; 



4 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

And aye those sunny mountains half-way down 
Would echo flagelet from some romantic town. 

III. 

Then, where of Indian hills the daylight takes 
His leave, how might you the flamingo see 
Disporting like a meteor on the lakes — 
And playful squirrel on his nut-grown tree : 
And every sound of life was full of glee, 
From merry mock-bird's song, or hum of men ; 
While hearkening, fearing nought their revelry, 
The wild deer arched his neck from glades, and 

then 
Unhunted, sought his woods and wilderness again. 

IV. 

And scarce had Wyoming of war or crime 
Heard, but in Transatlantic story rung. 
For here the exile met from every clime, 
And spoke in friendship every distant tongue : 
Men from the blood of warring Europe sprung, 
Were but divided by the running brook ; 
And happy where no Rhenish trumpet sung, 
On plains no seiging mine's volcano shook, 
The blue-eyed German changed his sword to pru- 
ning-hook. 

V. 

Nor far some Andalusian saraband 

Would sound to many a native roundelay — 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. O 

But who is he that yet a dearer land 
Remembers, over hills and far away ? 
Green Albin !* what though he no more survey 
Thy ships at anchor on the quiet shore, 
Thy pellochsf rolling from the mountain bay, 
Thy lone sepulchral cairn upon the moor, 
And distant isles that hear the loud Corbrechta 
roar IJ 

VI. 

Alas ! poor Caledonia's mountaineer. 
That want's stern edict e'er, and feudal grief, 
Had forced him from a home he loved so dear ! 
Yet found he here a home, and glad relief. 
And plied the beverage from his own fair sheaf. 
That fired his Highland blood with mickle glee : 
And England sent her men, of men the chief, 
Who taught those sires of Empire yet to be. 
To plant the tree of life, — to plant fair Freedom's 
tree ! 

VII. 

Here were not mingled in the city's pomp 
To life's extremes the grandeur and the gloom ; 
Judgment awoke not here her dismal tromp. 
Nor seal'd in blood a fellow-creature's doom, 

* Scotland. 

t The Gaelic appellation for the porpoise. 

t The great whirlpool of the Western Hebrides. 

3* 



6 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



Nor mourn'd the captive in a living tomb. 
One venerable man, beloved of all, 
Sufficed, where innocence was yet in bloom, 
To sway the strife that seldom might befall : 
And Albert was their judge in patriarchal hall. 

VIII. 

How reverend was the look, serenely aged, 
He bore, this gentle Pennsylvanian sire. 
Where all but kindly fervours were assuaged, 
Undimm'd by weakness' shade, or turbid ire ! ~ 
And though, amidst the calm of thought entire, 
Some high and haughty features might betray 
A soul impetuous once, 'twas earthly fire 
That fled composure's intellectual ray, 
As ^Etna's fires, grow dim before the rising day. 

IX. 

I boast no song in magic wonders rife. 
But yet, oh Nature ! is there nought to prize, 
Familiar in thy bosom scenes of life ? 
And dwells in daylight truth's salubrious skies 
No form with which the soul may sympathise ? 
Young, innocent, on whose sweet forehead mild 
The parted ringlet shone in simplest guise. 
An. inmate in the home of Albert smiled, 
Or blessed his noon-day walk — she was his only 
child. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



X. 



The rose of England bloomed on Gertrude's 

cheek — 
What though these shades had seen her birth, her 

sire 
A Briton's independence taught to seek 
Far western worlds ; and there his household fire 
The light of social love did long inspire, 
And many a halcyon day he lived to see 
Unbroken but by one misfortune dire, 
When fate had 'reft his mutual heart — but she 
Was gone — and Gertrude climb'd a wddow'd fa- 
ther's knee. 

XI. 

A loved bequest, — and I may half impart, 

To them that feel the strong paternal tie, 

How like a new existence to his heart 

That living flower uprose beneath his eye. 

Dear as she was from cherub infancy, 

From hours when she would round his garden 

play? 
To time when as the ripening years went by. 

Her lovely mind could culture w^ell repay. 

And more engaging grew, from pleasing day to day. 

XII. 

I may not paint those thousand infant charms ; 
(Unconscious fascination, undesigned !) 



O GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

The orison repeated in his arms, 
For God to bless her sire and all mankind ; 
The book, the bosom on his knee reclined, 
Or how sweet fairy-lore he heard her con, 
(The playmate ere the teacher of her mind :) 
All uncompanion'd else her heart had gone 
Till now, in Gertrude's eyes, their ninth blue sum- 
mer shone. 

XIII. 

And summer was the tide, and sweet the hour, 
When sire and daughter saw, with fleet descent, 
An Indian from his bark approach their bower, 
Of buskin'd limb, and swarthy lineament ; 
The red wild feathers on his brow were blent, 
And bracelets bound the arm that help'd to light 
A boy, who seem'd, as he beside him went, 
Of Christian vesture, and complexion bright, 
Led by his dusky guide, like morning brought by 
night. 

XIV. 

Yet pensive seem'd the boy for one so young — 
The dimple from his polish' d cheek had fled ; 
When, leaning on his forest-bow unstrung, 
Th' Oneida warrior to the planter said. 
And laid his hand upon the stripling's head, 
** Peace be to thee ! my words this belt approve ; 
The paths of peace my steps have hither led : 



GRETRUDE OF WYOMING. 



This little nursling, take him to thy love, 
And shield the bird unfledged, since gone the pa- 
rent dove, 



XV. 



" Christian ! I am the foeman of thy foe ; 
Our wampum league thy brethren did embrace : 
Upon the Michigan, three moons ago. 
We launch'd our pirogues for the bison chase, 
And with the Hurons planted for a space. 
With true and faithful hands, the olive stalk ; 
But snakes are in the bosoms of their race, 
And though they held with us a friendly talk. 
The hollow peace-tree fell beneath their torna- 
kawk ! 



XVI. 



^' It was encamping on the lake's far port, 
A cry of Areouski* broke our sleep. 
Where storm'd an ambush'd foe thy nation's fort. 
And rapid, rapid whoops came o'er the deep ; 
But long thy country's war-sign on the steep 
Appear'd through ghastly intervals of light. 
And deathfully their thunder seem'd to sweep, 
Till utter darkness swallow 'd up the sight. 
As if a shower of blood had quench' d the fiery 
fight ! 

* The Indian God of War. 



10 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

XVII. 

*' It slept — it rose again — on high their tower 
Sprang upward hke a torch to hght the skies, 
Then down again it rain'd an ember shower, 
And louder lamentations heard we rise ; 
As when the evil Manitou,* that dries 
Th' Ohio woods, consumes them in his ire, 
In vain the desolated panther flies. 
And howls amidst his wilderness of fire : 
Alas ! too late, we reach' d and smote those Hu- 
rons dire ! 

XVIII. 

^' But as the fox beneath the nobler hound. 
So died their warriors by our battle brand : 
And from the tree we, with her child, unbound 
A lonely mother of the Christian land : — 
Her lord — the captain of the British band — 
Amidst the slaughter of his soldiers lay. 
Scarce knew the widow our delivering hand ; 
Upon her child she sobb'd, and swoon' d away, 
Or shriek' d unto the God to whom the Christians 
pray. 

XIX. 

^' Our virgins fed her wdth their kindly bowls 
Of fever-balm and sweet sagamite : 
But she was journeying to the land of souls. 
And lifted up her dying head to pray 

* Manitou, Spirit or Deity. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 11 

That we should bid an ancient friend convey 
Her orphan to his home of England's shore ; — 
And take, she said, this token far away, 
To one that will remember us of yore, 
When he beholds the ring that Waldegrave's Ju- 
lia wore. 

XX. 

'' And I, the eagle of my tribe,* have rush'd 
With this lorn dove." — A sage's self-command 
Had quell'd the tears from Albert's heart that 

gush'd 
But yet his cheek — his agitated hand — - 
That shower'd upon the stranger of the land 
No common boon, in grief but ill-beguiled 
A soul that was not wont to be unmann'd ; 
" And stay," he cried, "dear pilgrim of the wild, 
Preserver of my old, my boon companion's 

child !— 

XXI. 

'' Child of a race whose name my bosom warms, 
On earth's remotest bounds how welcome here ! 
Whose mother oft, a child, has fill'd these arms, 
Young as thyself, and innocently dear, 

* The Indians are distinguished, both personally and by tribes, by the 
names of particular animals, whose qtialities they affect to resemble, either 
for cunning, strength, swiftness, or other qualities :— as the eagle, the 
serpent, the fox, or bear. 



12 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

Whose grandsire was my early life's compeer. 
All, happiest home of England's happy clime 1 
How beautiful e'en now thy scenes appear, 
As in the noon and sunshine of my prime ! 
How gone like yesterday these thrice ten years of 
time ! 

XXII. 

'' And, Juha 1 when thou wert like Gertrude 

now, 
Can I forget thee, favorite child of yore ? 
Or thought I, in thy father's house, when thou 
Wert lightest hearted on his festive floor, 
And first of all his hospitable door 
To meet and kiss me at my journey's end ? 
But w^here was I when Waldegrave w as no more ? 
And thou did'st pale thy gentle head extend 
In w^oes, that e'en the tribe of deserts w^as thy 

friend 1" 

X5CI1I. 

He said— and strain' d unto his heart the boy :—» 

Far differently the mute Oneida took 

His calumet of peace, and cup of joy ;* 

As monumental bronze unchanged his look ; 

A soul that pity touch'd but never shook ; 

* Calumet of Peace. — The calumet is the Indian name for the ornamen- 
tal pipe of friendship, which they smoke as a pledge of amity. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 13 

Trained from his tree-rock'd cradle* to his bier 
The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook, 
Impassive — fearing but the shame of fear — 
A stoic of the woods — a man without a tear. 

XXIV. 

Yet deem not goodness on the savage stock 
Of Outalissi's heart disdain'd to grow ; 
As lives the oak unwither'd on the rock, 
By storms above, and barrenness below ; 
He scorn'd his own, who felt another's wo ; 
And ere the wolf-skin on his back he flung, 
Or laced his moccasins, in act to go, 
A song of parting to the boy he sung, 
Who slept on Albert's couch, nor heard his friend- 
ly tongue. 

XXV. 

" Sleep, wearied one ! and in the dreaming land 

Shouldst thou to-morrow with thy mother meet, 

Oh ! tell her spirit that the wdiite man's hand 

Hath pluck'd the thorns of sorrow from thy feet ; 

While I in lonely wilderness shall greet 

Thy little footprints— or by traces know 

The fountain, w^here at noon I thought it sweet 



* Trec-rockhl cradle. — The Indian mothers suspend their children in 
their cradles froni the boughs of trees, and let them be rocked bv the 
wind 



14 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

To feed thee with the quarry of my bow, 
And pour'd the lotus^horn,* or slew the mountain 
roe. 

Xxvi. 

'^ Adieu ! sweet scion of the rising sun ! 
But should affliction's storms thy blossom mockj 
Then come again — my own adopted one, 
And I will graft thee on a noble stock : 
The crocodile, the condor of the rock. 
Shall be the pastime of thy sylvan wars ; 
And I will teach thee, in the battle's shock, 
To pay with Huron blood thy father's scars, 
And gratulate his soul rejoicing in the stars 1" 

XXVIl. 

So finish'd he the rhyme (howe'er uncouth) 
That true to nature's fervid feehngs ran, 
(And song is but the eloquence of truth :) 
Then forth uprose that lone wayfaring man ; 
But dauntless he, nor chart, nor journey's plan 
In woods required, whose trained eye was keen 
As eagle of the wilderness to scan 
His path, by mountain, swamp, or deep ravine. 
Or ken far friendly huts on good savannas green. 

* From a flower shaped like a horn, which Chateaubriand presumes to 
be of the lotus kind, the Indians in their travels though the desert often 
find a draught of dew purer than any other water. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 15 

XXVIII. 

Old Albert saw him from the valley's side — 
His pirogue launch' d — his pilgrimage begun- — 
Far, like the red-bird's wing he seem'd to glide ; 
Then dived, and vanished in the woodlands dun. 
Oft, to that spot by tender memory won. 
Would Albert climb the promontory's height. 
If but a dim sail glimmer'd in the sun ; 
But never more, to bless his longing sight, 
Was Outalissi hail'd, with bark and plumage 
bright. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART 11. 



4* 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART II. 
I. 

A VALLEY from the river-shore withdrawn 
Was Albert's home, two quiet woods between, 
Whose lofty verdure overlook' d his lawn ; 
And waters to their resting-place serene 
Came freshening, and reflecting all the scene, 
(A mirror in the depth of flowery shelves ;) 
So sweet a spot of earth, you might (I ween) 
Have guess'd some congregation of the elves, 
To sport by summer moons, had shaped it for 
themselves. 

II. 

Yet wanted not the eye far scope to muse. 
Nor vistas open'd by the wandering stream ; 
Both where at evening Allegany views. 
Through ridges burning in her western beam, 
Lake after lake interminably gleam : 
And past those settler's haunts the eye might roam 
Where earth's unliving silence all would seem ; 



20 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

Save where on rocks the beaver built his dome, 
Or buffalo remote low'd far from human home. 

III. 
But silent not that adverse eastern path, 
Which saw Aurora's hills th' horizon crown ; 
There was the river heard, in bed of wrath, 
(A precipice of foam from mountains brown,) 
Like tumults heard from some far distant town ; 
But softening in approach he left his gloom. 
And murmur'd pleasantly, and laid him down 
To kiss those easy curving banks of bloom. 
That lent the windward air an exquisite perfume. 

IV. 

It seem'd as if those scenes sweet influence had 
On Gertrude's soul, and kindness like their own 
Inspired those eyes affectionate and glad, 
That seem'd to love whate'er they looked upon ; 
Whether with Hebe's mirth her features shone. 
Or if a shade more pleasing them o'ercast, 
(As if for heavenly musing meant alone,) 
Yet so becomingly th' expression past. 
That each succeeding look was lovelier than the 
last. 

v. 

Nor, guess I, was that Pennsylvanian home. 
With all its picturesque and balmy grace, 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 21 

And fields that were a luxury to roam, 

Lost on the soul that lookM from such a face ! 

Enthusiast of the woods ! when years apace 

Had bound thy lovely waist with woman's zone, 

The sunrise path, at morn, I see thee trace 

To hills with high magnolia overgrown, 

And joy to breathe the groves, romantic and alone. 

VI. 

The sunrise drew her thoughts to Europe forth, 

That thus apostrophized its viewless scene : 

" Land of my father's love, my mother's birth ! 

The home of kindred I have never seen ! 

We know not other — oceans are between : . 

Yet say ! far friendly hearts, from whence we came, 

Of us does oft remembrance intervene ? 

My mother, sure — my sire — a thought may claim ; 

But Gertrude is to you an unregarded name. 

VII. 

'' And yet, loved England ! when thy name I trace 
Li many a pilgrim's tale and poet's song. 
How can I choose but wish for one embrace 
Of them, the dear unknown, to whom belong 
My mother's looks, — perhaps her likeness strong ? 
Oh, parent ! with what reverential awe, 
From features of thine own related throng. 
An image of thy face my soul could draw ! 
And see thee once again whom I too shortly saw !" 



22 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING, 



VIII. 



Yet deem not Gertrude sigh'd for foreign joy ; 
To soothe a father's couch, her only care, 
And keep his reverend head from all annoy : 
For this, methinks her homeward steps repair, 
Soon as the morning wreath had bound her hair ; 
While yet the wild deer trod in spangling dew, 
While boatmen carolPd to the fresh-blown air, 
And woods a horizontal shadow threw. 
An early fox appeared in momentary view. 



IX. 



Apart there was a deep untrodden grot. 
Where oft the reading hours sweet Gertrude wore ; 
Tradition had not named its lonely spot ; 
But here (methinks) might India's sons explore 
Their father's dust, * or hft perchance of yore, 
Their voice to the great Spirit :— rocks sublime 
To human art a sportive semblance bore. 
And yellow lichens color'd all the clime, 
Like moonlight battlements, and towers decay'd 
by time. 

X. 

But high in amphitheatre above, 

Gay tinted woods their massy foliage threw : 

* It is a custom of the Indian tribes to visit tlie tombs of their ances- 
tors in the cultivated parts of America, wlio have been buried for up- 
wards of a century. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 23 

Breathed but an air of heaven, and all the grove 
As if instinct with living spirit grew, 
Rolling its verdant gulfs of every hue ; 
And now suspended was the pleasing din, 
Now from a murmur faint it swell' d anew, 
Like the first note of organ heard within 
Cathedral aisles, — ere yet its symphony begin. 



XI. 



It was in this lone valley she would charm 
linger! 
strewn 



The lingering noon, where flowers a couch had 



J 



Her cheek reclining, and her snowy arm 
On hillock by the palm-tree half o'ergrown : 
And aye that volume on her lap is thrown, 
Which every heart of human mould e>:dears ; 
With Shakspeare's self she speaks and smiles 

alone, 
And no intruding visitation fears, 
To shame the unconscious laugh, or stop her 

sweetest tears. 

XII. 

And nought within the grove w*as seen or heard 
But stock-doves plaining through its gloom pro- 
found, 
Or winglet of the fairy humming-bird, 
Like atoms of the rainbow fluttering round ; 
When, lo ! there enter'd to its inmost ground 



24 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

A youth, the stranger of a distant land ; 
He was, to weet, for eastern mountains bound ; 
But late th' equator suns his cheek had tann'd, 
And California's gales his roving bosom fann'd. 

XIII. 

A steed, whose rein hung loosely o'er his arm, 
He led dismounted ; ere his leisure pace. 
Amid the brown leaves, could her ear alarm, 
Close he had come, and worshipp'd for a space 
Those downcast features : — -she her lovely face 
Uplift on one, whose lineaments and frame 
Wore youth and manhood's intermingled grace ; 
Iberian seem'd his boot — his robe the same. 
And well the Spanish plume his lofty looks be- 
came. 

XIV. 

For Albert's home he sought — her finger fair 
Has pointed where the father's mansion stood. 
Returning from the copse, he soon was there : 
And soon has Gertrude hied from dark greenwood ; 
Nor joyless, by the converse, understood 
Between the man of age and pilgrim young, 
That gay congeniality of mood. 
And early liking from acquaintance sprung ; 
Full fluently conversed their guest in England's 
tongue. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 25 

XV. 

And well could he his pilgrimage of taste 

Unfold, — and much they loved his fervid strain. 

While he each fair variety retraced 

Of climes, and manners, o'er the eastern main. 

Now happy Switzer's hills, — romantic Spain, — 

Gay lilied fields of France, — ^or more refined, 

The soft Ausonia's monumental reign ; 

Nor less each rural imao^e he desis^ned 

Than all the city's pomp and home of human kind. 

XVI. 

Anon some wilder portraiture he draws ; 
Of Nature's savage glories he would speak,— 
The loneliness of earth that overawes, — 
Where, resting by some tomb of old cacique, 
The lama-driver on Peruvia's peak 
Nor living voice nor motion marks around ; 
But storks that to the boundless forest shriek, 
Or wild-cane arch high flung o'er gulf profound,* 
That fluctuates when the storms of El Dorado 
sound. 

XVII. 

Pleased with his guest, the good man still would 

ply 

Each earnest question, and his converse court ] 

* The bridiies over narrow streams in many parts of Spanish America 
arc said to be built of cane, which, however strong to support the passen- 

5 



26 GERTBUDE OF WYOMINO. 

But Gertrude, as she eyed him, knew not why 
A strange and troubUng wonder stopt her short, 
" In England thou hast been,— and, by report. 
An orphan's name (quoth Albert) may'st have 

known. 
Sad tale ! — when latest fell our frontier fort, — 
One innocent — ^one soldier's child — alone 
Was spared, and brought to me, who loved him 

as my own. — 

XVIII. 

" Young Henry Waldegrave ! three delightful years' 
These very walls his infant sports did see : 
But most I loved him when his parting tears 
Alternately bedew'd my child and me : 
His sorest parting, Gertrude, was from thee ; 
Nor half its grief his little heart could hold ; 
By kindred he was sent for o'er the sea ; 
They tore him from us when but twelve years old, 
And scarcely for his loss have I been yet con- 
soled V' 

XIX. 

His face the wanderer hid — but could not hide 
A tear, a smile, upon his cheek that dwell ; — - 
" And speak ! mysterious stranger 1" (Gertrude 
cried) 

ger, are j-et waved in the agitation of the storm, and frequently add to 
the effect of a mountainous and picturesque scenery. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 27 

^' It is ! — it is ! — I knew — I knew him well ! 
'Tis Waldegrave's self, of Waldegrave come to 

tell !" 
A burst of joy the father's lips declare, 
But Gertrude speechless on his bosom fell ; 
At once his open arms embraced the pair — 
Was never group more blest, in this wide world 

of care, 

XX. 

'^ And will ye pardon, then, (replied the youth) 

Your Waldegrave's feigned name, and false attire ? 

I durst not in the neighborhood, in truth, 

The very fortunes of your house inquire, 

Lest one that knew me might some tidings dire 

Impart, and I my weakness all betray ; 

For had I lost my Gertrude and my sire, 

I meant but o'er your tombs to weep a day. 

Unknown I meant to weep, unknown to pass away. 

XXI. 

*^ But here ye live, — ye bloom, — in each dear 

face 
The changing hand of time I may not blame ; 
For there, it hath but shed more reverend grace. 
And here, of beauty perfected the frame : 
And well I know your hearts are still the same — 
They could not change — ye look the very way 
As when an orphan first to you I came. 



28 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

And have ye heard of my p or guide, I pray ? 
Nay, wherefore weep ye, friends, on such a joy- 
ous day ?" 

XXII. 

" And art thou here ? or is it but a dream ? 

And wilt thou, Waldegrave, wilt thou, leave us 

more ?" — 
'' No, never ! thou that yet dost lovelier seem 
Than aught on earth — than e'en thyself of yore — 
I will not part thee from thy father's shore ; 
But we will cherish him with mutual arms, 
And hand in hand again the path explore, 
Which every ray of young remembrance warms. 
While thou shalt be my own, with all thy truth 

and charms 1" 

XXIII. 

At morn, as if beneath a galaxy 
Of over-arching groves in blossoms white, 
Where all was odorous scent and harmony. 
And gladness to the heart, nerve, ear, and sight : 
There, if, oh gentle Love ! I read aright 
The utterance that seal'd thy sacred bond, 
'Twas listening to these accents of delight. 
She hid upon his breast those eyes, beyond 
Expression's power to paint, all languishingly 
fond. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



XXIV. 



29 



'^ Flower of my life, so lovely, and so lone ! 
Whom I would rather in this desert meet, 
Scorning, and scorn' d by fortune's power, than 

own 
Her pomp and splendors lavish'd at my feet ! 
Turn not from me thy breath, more exquisite 
Than odors cast on heaven's own shrine, to 

please — 
Give me thy love, than luxury more sweet. 
And more than all the wealth that loads the breeze, 
When Coromandel's ships return from Indian 



seas." 



XXV. 



Then would that home admit V: em — happier far 
Than grandeur's most magnificent saloon. 
While here and there, a solitary star 
Flushed in the darkening firmament of June, 
And silence brought the soul-felt hour, full soon. 
Ineffable, which I may not portray ; 
For never did the hymenean moon 
A paradise of hearts more sacred sway. 
In all that slept beneath her soft voluptuous ray. 
5* 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART III. 



GERTRUDE OE WYOMING. 



PART III. 



I. 



O Love 1 in such a wilderness as this, 
Where transport and security entwine, 
Here is the empire of thy perfect bhss, 
And here thou art a god indeed divine. 
Here shall no forms abridge, no hours confine 
The views, the walks, that boundless joy inspire ! 
Roll on, ye days of raptured influence, shine ! 
Nor, blind with ecstasy's celestial fire, 
Shall love behold the spark of earth-born time 
expire. 

II. 

Three little moons, how short ! amidst the grove 

And pastoral savannas they consume. 

While she, beside her buskin'd youth to rove, 

Delights, in fancifully wild costume. 

Her lovely brow to shade with Indian plume ; 

And forth in hunter-seeming vest they fare ; 

But not to chase the deer in forest gloom ; 



34 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

'Tis but the breath of heaven — the blessed air — 
And interchange of hearts, unknown, unseen to 
share. 

III. 

What though the sportive dog oft round them 

note, 
Or fawn, or wild bird bursting on the wing ; 
Yet who, in love's own presence, would devote 
To death those gentle throats that wake the spring, 
Or writhing from the brook its victim bring ? 
No ! — nor let fear one little warbler rouse ; 
But fed by Gertrude's hand, still let them sing, 
Acquaintance of her path, amidst the boughs. 
That shade e'en now her love, and witness'd first 

her vows. 

IV. 

Now labyrinths, which but themselves can pierce, 
Methinks, conduct them to some pleasant ground, 
Where welcome hills shut out the universe. 
And pines their lawny walk encompass round ; 
There, if a pause delicious converse found, 
'Twas but when o'er each heart th' idea stole, 
(Perchance awhile in joy's oblivion drown'd,) 
That come what may, while life's glad pulses 

roll, 
Indissolubly thus should soul be knit to soul. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 35 



V. 



And in the visions of romantic youth, 
What yeai-s of endless bhss are yet to flow ? 
But, mortal pleasure, what art thou in truth ? 
The torrent's smoothness, ere it dash below ! 
And must I change my song ? and must I show, 
Sweet Wyoming ! the day when thou wert doom'd, 
Guiltless, to mourn thy lovehest bowers laid low ? 
When where of yesterday a garden bloom'd, 
Death overspread his pall, and blackening ashes 
gloom' d ? 

VI. 

Sad was the year, by proud oppression driven, 

When Transatlantic Liberty arose. 

Not in the sunshine and the smile of heaven, 

But wrapt in whirlwinds and begirt with woes. 

Amidst the strife of fratricidal foes ; 

Her birth-star was the light of burning plains ;* 

Her baptism is the weight of blood that flows 

From kindred hearts — the blood of British veins— 

And famine tracks her steps, and pestilential pains. 

VII. 

Yet, ere the storm of death had raged remote, 
Or siege unseen in heaven reflects its beams, 
Who now each dreadful circumstance shall note, 

* Alluding to the miseries that attended the American civil war. 



36 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

That fills pale Gertrude's thoughts, and nightly 

dreams ? 
Dismal to her the forge of battle gleams 
Portentous light ! and music's voice is dumb ; 
Save where the fife its shrill reveille screams, 
Or midnight streets re-echo to the drum, 
That speaks of maddening strife, and bloodstained 

fields to come. 

VIII. 

It was in truth a momentary pang ; 

Yet how comprising myriad shapes of wo ! 

First when in Gertrude's ear the summons rang, 

A husband to the battle doom'd to go ! 

" Nay, meet not thou (she cries) thy kindred foe, 

But peaceful let us seek fair England's strand ;" 

'' Ah, Gertrude ! thy beloved heart, I know, 

Would feel like mine the stigmatizing brand, 

Could I forsake the cause of Freedom's holy band. 

IX. 

^' But shame — -but flight-— a recreant's name to 

prove. 
To hide in exile ignominious fears- 
Say, e'en if this I brook'd, — the public love 
Thy father's bosom to his home endears : 
And how could I his few remaining years, 
My Gertrude, sever from so dear a child ?" 
So, day by day, her boding heart he cheers ; 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 37 

At last that heart to hope is half beguiled, 
And, pale through tears suppress' d, the mournful 
beauty smiled. 

X. 

Night came, — and in their lighted bower, full 

late 
The joy of converse had endured — when hark ! 
Abrupt and loud a summons shook their gate ; 
And heedless of the dog's obstreperous bark, 
A form had rush'd amidst them from the dark, 
And spread his arms, — and fell upon the floor : 
Of aged strength his limbs retain'd the mark ; 
But desolate he look'd, and famish'd poor. 
As ever shipwreck' d wretch lone left on desert 

shore. 

XI. 

Uprisen, each wondering brow is knit and arch'd : 

A spirit from the dead they deem him first : 

To speak he tries; but quivering, pale, and parch'd, 

From lips, as by some powerless dream accursed, 

Emotions unintelligible burst ; 

And long his filmed eye is red and dim ; 

At length the pity-profiered cup his thirst 

Had half assuaged, and nerved his shuddering 

limb, 
When Albert's hand he grasp'd ; — but Albert 

knew not him — 
6 



38 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



XII. 



" And hast thou then forgot," (he cried forlorn, 
And eyed the group with half-indignant air,) 
'' Oh ! hast thou. Christian chief, forgot the morn 
When I with thee the cup of peace did share ? 
Then stately w^as this head, and dark this hair. 
That now is white as Appalachia's snow ; 
But if the weight of fifteen years' despair, 
And age hath bow'd me, and the torturing foe. 
Bring me my boy — and he will his deliverer 



know ! 



5> 



XIII. 



It was not long, with eyes and heart of flame. 

Ere Henry to his loved Oneida flew : 

'' Bless thee, my guide !" — but backward, as he 

came. 
The chief his old bewildered head withdrew. 
And grasped his arm, and look'd and look'd him 



through. 



Twas strange — nor could the group a smile con- 
trol — 
The long and doubtful scrutiny to view : — 
At last delight o'er all his features stole, 
^' It is — my own," he cried, and clasp'd him to 
his soul. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 39 

XIV. 

^' Yes ! thou recalFst my pride of years, for then 
The bowstring of my spirit was not slack, 
When, spite of woods, and floods, and ambush'd 

men, 
I bore thee like the quiver on my back. 
Fleet as the whirlwind hurries on the rack ; 
Nor foeman then, nor cougar's crouch I fear'd,* 
For I was strong as mountain cataract : 
And dost thou not remember how we cheer'd, 
Upon the last hill-top, when white men's huts 

appear' d ? 

XV. 

^•Then welcome be my death song and my death, 
Since I have seen thee, and again embraced," — 
And longer had he spent his toil-worn breath, 
But with affectionate and eager haste, 
Was every arm outstretch'd around their guest. 
To welcome and to bless his aged head. 
Soon was the hospitable banquet placed : 
And Gertrude's lovely hands a balsam shed 
On wounds with fever'd joy that more profusely 
bled. 

XVI. 

'• But this is not a time," — he started up. 

And smote his breast with wo-denouncing hand — 

* Cougar, the American tiger. 



40 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

" This is no time to fill the joyous cup ; 

The Mammoth comes, — the foe, — the Monster 

Brandt,* — 
With all his howhng desolating band ; — 
These eyes have seen their blade and burning 

pine 
Awake at once, and silence, half your land. 
Red is the cup they drink ; but not with wine : 
Awake, and watch to-night, or see no morning 

shine ! 

XVII. 

" Scorning to wield the hatchet for his bribe, 
'Gainst Brandt himself I went to battle forth : 
Accursed Brandt ! he left of all my tribe 
Nor man, nor child, nor thing of living birth : 
No ! not the dog, that watch' d my household 

hearth, 
Escaped that night of blood, upon our plains ! 
All perished ! — I alone am left on earth ! 
To whom nor relative nor blood remains, 
No ! — not a kindred drop that runs in human 



vems 



XVIII. 



" But go ! — and rouse your warriors ; — for, if right 
These old bewilder'd eyes could guess, by signs 

* Brandt was the leader of those Mohawks, and other savajres, who laid 
waste this part of Pennsylvania. Vide the note at the end of this poem. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 41 

Of striped and starred banners, on yon height 

Of eastern cedars, o'r the creek of pines — 

Some fort embattled by your country shines : 

Deep roars th' innavigable gulf below 

Its squared rock, and palisaded lines. 

Go ! seek the light its warlike beacons show ; 

Whilst I in ambush wait, for vengeance and th6 



foe !' 



XIX. 

Scarce had he utter' d when heaven's verge ex- 
treme 
Reverberates the bomb's descending star, — 
And sounds that mingled laugh, — and shout, — 

and scream, — 
To freeze the blood, in one discordant jar, 
Rung to the pealing thunderbolts of war. 
Whoop after whoop with rack the ear assail'd I 
As if unearthly fiends had burst their bar ; 
While rapidly the marksman's shot prevail'd : — 
And aye, as if for death, some lonely trumpet 
wail'd. 

XX. 

Then looked they to the hills, where fire o'erhung 
The bandit groups, in one Vesuvian glare ; 
Or swept, far seen, the tower, whose clock unrung. 
Told legible that midnight of despair. 
She faints, — she falters not, — th' heroic fair, — 
6* 



42 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

As he the sword and plume in haste array'd. 
One short embrace — he clasp'd his dearest care — 
But hark ! what nearer war-drum shakes the 

glade ? 
Joy, joy ! Columbia's friends are tramping through 

the shade ! 

XXI. 

Then came of every race the mingled sw^arm, 
Far rung the groves and gleam' d the midnight 

grass, 
With flambeau, javelin, and naked arm ; 
As warriors wheel'd their culverins of brass. 
Sprung from the woods, a bold athletic mass, 
Whom virtue fires, and liberty combines : 
And first the wild Moravian yagers pass — 
His plumed host the dark Iberian joins — 
And Scotia's sword beneath the Highland thistle 

shines. 

XXII. 

And in, the buskin'd hunters of the deer, 

To Albert's home, with shout and cymbal throng : 

Roused by their warlike pomp, and mirth, and 

cheer. 
Old Outalissa woke his battle-song. 
And, beating with his war-club cadence strong, 
Tells how his deep-stung indignation smarts. 
Of them that wrapt his house in flames, ere long 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 43 

To whet a dagger on their stony hearts, 

And smile avenged ere yet his eagle spirit parts. 

xxiir. 
Calm, opposite the Christian father rose. 
Pale on his venerable brow its rays 
Of martyr light the conflagration throws ; 
One hand upon his lovely child he lays, 
And one th' uncover'd crowd to silence sways ; 
While though the battle flash is faster driven, — 
Unawed, with eye unstartled by the blaze. 
He for his bleeding country prays to Heaven — 
Prays that the men of blood themselves may be 
forgiven. 

XXIV. 

Short time is now for gratulating speech : 

And yet, beloved Gertrude, ere begun 

Thy country's flight, yon distant towers to reach, 

Look'd not on thee the rudest partisan 

With brow relax' d to love ? And murmurs ran. 

As round and round their willing ranks they 

drew, 
From beauty's sight to shield the hostile van. 
Grateful, on them a placid look she threw. 
Nor w^ept, but as she bade her mother's grave 

adieu ! 



44 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

XXV. 

Past was the flight, and welcome seem'd the tower, 
That hke a giant standard-bearer frown'd 
Defiance on the roving Indian power. 
Beneath each bold and promontory mound 
With embrasure emboss'd and armour crown'd. 
An arrowy frieze, and wedged ravelin. 
Wove like a diadem its tracery round 
The lofty summit of that mountain green ; 
Here stood secure the group, and eyed a distant 
scene, — 

XXVI. 

A scene of death ! where fires beneath the sun, 
And blended arms, and white pavilions glow ; 
And for the business of destruction done 
Its requiem the war-horn seem'd to blow: 
There, sad spectatress of her country's wo ! 
The lovely Gertrude, safe from present harm. 
Had laid her cheek, and clasp' d her hands of 

snow 
On Waldegrave's shoulder, half v/ithin his arm 
Enclosed, that felt her heart, and hush'd its wild 

alarm ! 

XXVII. 

But short that contemplation — sad and short 
The pause to bid each much loved scene adieu ! 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 45 

Beneath the very shadow of the fort, 

Where friendly swords were drawn, and banners 

flew, 
Ah ! who could deem that foot of Indian crew 
Was near? — yet there, with lust of murderous 

deeds, 
Gleam'd like a basilisk, from woods in view. 
The ambush'd foeman's eye — his volley speeds, 
And Albert — Albert — falls ! the dear old father 

bleeds ! 

XXVIII. 

And tranced in giddy horror Gertrude swoon'd ; 
Yet, while she clasps him lifeless to her zone, 
Say, burst they, borrow'd from her father's wound. 
These drops ? — Oh, God ! the life-blood is her 

own ! 
And falt'ring, on her Waldegrave's bosom thrown, 
" Weep not, O love !" — she cries, " to see me 

bleed — 
Thee, Gertrude's sad survivor, thee alone 
Heaven's peace commiserate ; for scarce I heed 
These wounds ; — yet thee to leave is death, is 
death indeed ! 

XXIX. 

"^ Clasp me a little longer on the brink 
Of fate ! while I can feel thy dear caress : 



46 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

And when this heart hath ceased to beat — oh 

think, 
And let it mitigate thy wo's excess, 
That thou hast been to me all tenderness, 
And friend to more than human friendship just. 
Oh ! by that retrospect of happiness. 
And by the hopes of an immortal trust, 
God shall assuage thy pangs when I am laid in 

dust ! 

XXX. 

^' Go, Henry, go not back, when I depart ; 

The scene thy bursting tears too deep will move, 

Where my dear father took thee to his heart. 

And Gertrude thought it ecstasy to rove 

With thee, as with an angel, through the grove 

Of peace, imagining her lot was cast 

In heaven ; for ours was not like earthly love. 

And must this parting be our very last ? 

No ! I shall love thee still, when death itself is past. 

XXXI. 

" Half could I bear, methinks, to leave this earth, 
And thee, more loved than aught beneath the sun, 
If I had lived to smile but on the birth 
Of one dear pledge ; — but shall there then be 

none. 
In future times — no gentle little one, 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 47 

To clasp thy neck, and look, resembling me ? 
Yet seems it, e'en while life's last pulses run, 
A sweetness in the cup of death to be. 
Lord of my bosom's love ! to die beholding thee !" 

XXXII. 

Hush'd were his Gertrude's lips ! but still their 

bland 
And beautiful expression seem'd to melt 
With love that could not die ! and still his hand 
She presses to the heart no more that felt. 
Ah, heart ! where once each fond affection dwelt, 
And features yet that spoke a soul more fair. 
Mute, gazing, agonizing, as he knelt, — 
Of them that stood encircling his despair, 
He heard some friendly words ; — but knew not 

what they were. 

XXXIII, 

For now, to mourn their judge and child, arrives 
A faithful band. With solemn rites between, 
'Twas sung, how they were lovely in their lives, 
And in their deaths had not divided been. 
Touch'd by the music, and the melting scene. 
Was scarce one tearless eye amidst the crowd : — 
Stern warriors, resting on their swords, were seen 
To veil their eyes, as pass'd each much-loved 

shroud — 
While woman's softer soul in wo dissolved aloud. 



48 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING, 

XXXIV, 

Then mournfully the parting bugle bid 

Its farewell, o'er the grave of worth and truth ; 

Prone to the dust, afflicted Waldegrave hid 

His face on earth ; — him watch' d, in gloomy ruth, 

His woodland guide : but words had none to 

soothe 
The grief that knew not consolation's name : 
Casting his Indian mantle o'er the youth. 
He watch'd beneath its folds, each burst that came 
Convulsive, ague-like, across his shuddering frame ! 

XXXV. 

'•' And I could weep ;" — th' Oneida chief 

His descant wildly thus begun : 

'' But that I may not stain with grief 

The death-song of my father's son, 

Or bow this head in wo : 

For by my wrongs, and by my wrath ! 

To-morrow Areouski's breath, 

(That fires yon heaven with storms of death,) 

Shall light us to the foe ; 

And we shall share, my Christian boy ! 

The foeman's blood, the avenger's joy ! 

XXXVI. 

^' But thee, my flower, whose breath was given 
By milder genii o'er the deep. 



GRETRUDE OF WYOMING. 49 

The spirits of the white man's heaven 
Forbid not thee to weep : — 
Nor will the Christian host, 
Nor will thy father's spirit grieve. 
To see thee on the battle's eve, 
Lamenting, take a mournful leave 
Of her who loved thee most : 
She was the rainbow to thy sight ! 
Thy sun — thy heaven — of lost delight ! 

XXXVII. 

'' To-morrow let us do or die ! 

But when the bolt of death is hurl'd, 

Ah ! w^hither then with thee to fly, 

Shall Outalissi roam the world ? 

Seek we thy once-loved home ? 

The hand is gone that cropt its flowers ; 

Unheard their clock repeats its hours ! 

Cold is the hearth within their bowers ! 

And should we hither roam, 

Its echoes, and its empty tread, 

Would sound like voices from the dead ! 

XXXVIII. 

" Or shall we cross yon mountains blue, 
Whose streams my kindred nation quafTd, 
And by my side, in battle true, 

A thousand warriors drew the shaft ? 

7 



50 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

Ah ! there in desolation cold, 

The desert serpent dwells alone, 

Where grass o'ergrows each mouldering bone, 

And stones themselves to ruin grown, 

Like me, are death-like old. 

Then seek we not their camp, — for there 

The silence dwells of my despair ! 

XXXIX. 

" But hark, the trump ! — to-morrow thou 
In glory's fires shalt dry thy tears : 
E'en from the land of shadows now 
My father's awful ghost appears, 
Amidst the clouds that round us roll I 
He bids my soul for battle thirst — 
He bids me dry the last — the first — 
The only tears that ever burst 
From Outalissi's soul ; 
Because I may not stain with grief 
The death-song of an Indian chief!" 



WYOMING, 



ITS HISTORY. 



" mCch yet remains unsung." 



BY WILLIAM L. STONE. 



NEW-YORK : 

M ARK H. NEWMAN. 

1844. 



WYOMING. 



WYOMING. 



CHAPTER I. 

Preliminary remarks — Travelling — its facilities — Route to the Valley of 
Wyoming from New-York. — Muskonetcong Mountain, — Delaware Wa- 
ter-Gap, — Stroudsburg, — Kakatchlanamin Hills or Blue Mountains, — 
the Wind-Gap, — Pokono Mountains. 

The passion for travelling, so often and so habit- 
ually spoken of as a characteristic of the English 
people, seems to have been transmitted, with many 
other of their national peculiarities, to their Ameri- 
can descendants ; stimulated, moreover, to increas- 
ed activity, by the vast extent, the enlarged commu- 
nity of interests and feelings, and the unequalled fa- 
cilities for conveyance, which are united in our 
country. The magnificent steamboats and mul- 
titudinous rail-roads which this tendency of the 
American people, and the necessities of their un- 
bounded commercial enterprise, have called into 
existence, afford sufficient evidence, in their num- 
ber and extent, of the great amount of travel at 
all times in progress ; but to obtain a full concep- 
tion of the locomotive propensity by which the 



56 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

citizens are animated, it is necessary to be a pas- 
senger, during either of the summer months, on 
board one or another of the gigantic steamboats 
that ply along the principal throughfares of in- 
land navigation — such, for instance, as the Hud- 
son, the Delaware, or the Mississippi. If the boat 
of which the adventurous observer, entrusts his 
person should happen to be one of a line engag- 
ing at the moment in competition with a rival, 
and therefore presenting the temptation of a charge 
reduced almost to nothing, his understanding in 
the eagerness for travel which animates all c asses 
sexes, and occupations, will be all the more enlarg- 
ed and enlightened. 

A natural consequence of this universal appetite 
is the zeal with which new scenes and localities 
are sought out, as the objects of touring indus- 
try — a zeal displayed in astonishing activity by 
the rich and novelty-loving travellers of England, 
and only in a less degree by their fellow-explorers 
of America, Of late years we have seen the former 
pushing their researches into the remotest quar- 
ters of the globe — the trackless deserts of Africa, 
the wild steppes and mountains of Central Asia, 
the sterile plains of Russia, the dark forests of 
Norway, the savage prairies of our Western Co:i- 
tinent, and the far distant isles of the I acific ; and 
the latter, in the same spirit though with means 
more limited and time less entirely at their com- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 57 

mand, pushing their summer expeditions to the 
British Provinces and the great lakes of the North- 
west — not to mention the frequency with which 
Americans are seen or heard of among the splen- 
did capitals of Europe, or the relics of the won- 
derful past in Africa and Asia. 

Touching these last, no man of intelligence or of 
enlarged understanding will think for a moment 
of censuring the spirit in which journies to behold 
them are undertaken, probably, in the great ma- 
jority of instances ; the spirit, doubtless, of liberal 
curiosity and a desire for knowledge. Neverthe- 
less, it is worthy of remark that, familiar as the 
principal resorts of home tourists may be to thou- 
sands upon thousands of Americans — perfectly 
at home as they may find themselves in Washing- 
ton, New- York, Philadelphia, Boston, Quebec and 
Montreal, and generally well informed as to the 
main features of the country in its different re- 
gions — there are yet very many places worthy 
to be visited, either on account of natural attrac- 
tions, or events of which they have been the 
scene, or perhaps of both these causes in combi- 
nation ; places rarely included within tlie range 
of annual excursions, yet rich in scenery or in re- 
collections, worthy to be noted by the curious in- 
quirer, and to be enjoyed by him who seeks in 
travel refreshment for his mind and gratification 
for his refined and cultivated tastes. 



58 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Such is the valley of Wyoming — exquisitely 
beautiful in scenery, and invested by the history 
of the past and the genius of poesy v^^ith attrac- 
tions not less strong or enduring. Such it was 
found to be, greatly to his own enjoyment, by the 
author of this unpretending volume, in an excur- 
sion performed during the summer of 1839 ; and in 
the hope of inducing others to procure for them- 
selves pleasures like those which he enjoyed, he 
has ventured to draw up from his notes a brief de- 
scription of the scenes and objects by which he 
was deeply interested, and which, in his humble 
judgment, fairly entitle the lovely and far-famed 
Valley of Wyoming to a place in the " itineraries " 
of the United States, not less distinguished than 
many other localities have long possessed, whose 
claims, though more generally recognized, are nei- 
ther more vaUd nor more numerous. 

Another consideration has had much to do with 
the production of this volume — one which the 
author has some diffidence in stating, as its avow^al 
may subject him, though erroneously, to the 
charge of literary presumption. The reader has 
seen in the preceding pages, that the name of 
Wyoming has been illustrated and adorned by 
the genius of a great poet, and in his lay of per- 
fect music embalmed for everlasting fame. In ex- 
tent, wherever the English language is read or 
spoken — in time, so long as that language shall 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 59 

exist, either as living or dead — the Wyoming of 
Campbell is and will be a creation lovely to the 
heart and imagination of mankind. But the poet 
has given to the world a creation that is only im- 
aginary. His Wyoming is not the Wyoming of 
prosaic reality, nor is the tale to which he has 
married it in accordance with the facts of history. 
Of course no reproach is meant for him in making 
this declaration. His choice of materials and the 
use he made of them were governed by the pur- 
poses and necessities of his own art — not by those 
of the historian ; and as the requirements of his 
own art would have been perfectly well satisfied 
by a total invention of incidents, so there was no 
obligation upon him to use any thing more than 
such a partial foundation of reality as would be 
sufficient for the ends he had in view. 

But though no exception be taken to the poet 
for the fanciful colouring he has given to events 
so full of interest, it is perhaps not unwarrantable 
to presume that thousands of his admiring readers 
would desire to know the real features of that pic- 
ture which, with his embellishments, appears so 
lovely. Such desire would almost unavoidably 
spring up from the natural propensity of men to 
seek after truth ; and it would be stimulated, 
doubtless, by curiosity to compare the real with 
the imagined. 

In this belief the author has found encourage- 



60 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

merit to prepare his little volume for the public ; 
while motive wavS furnished by the injustice done, 
however innocently, in the poem, to a personage 
of no mean celebrity, in whose character and life 
the autlior has long felt a deep interest. It will 
be understood, probably, that reference is made to 
the famous Mohawk chieftain Brant — designated 
in the poem, with equal wrong to his morals and 
his patronymic, " the monster Brandt." Coexten- 
sive with the knowledge of the poem is the wrong 
done to his memory by ascribing to him cruelties 
in which he had no share, and at the perpetration 
of which he was not even present ; and although 
to the later editions of his poem Campbell has ap- 
pended a note, acknowledging his error in this res- 
pect, the Thayendanegea of history is still " the 
monster Brandt " to thousands who derive all their 
knowledge of him from the deathless " Gertrude 
of Wyoming." 

A desire to contribute something toward the 
rescue of the Indian warrior's fame, was prominent 
among the considerations that led to the produc- 
tion of the present work ; while, independently of 
the interest with which the valley of Wyoming has 
been invested by Campbell, it is believed that the 
actual history of that beautiful region, limited 
though it be in its geographical dimensions, is suf- 
ficiently rich in incident to warrant at least a pass- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 61 

ing notice from the music of history. In the pre- 
paration of these pages, for the sake of convenience, 
the popular style of the tourist has occasionally 
been adopted. 

Wyoming is a section of the valley of the Sus- 
quehanna river, situated due west of the city of 
New-York, distant, in a direct line, about one 
hundred miles. The usual route is across New- 
Jersey to Easton, and the Delaware river, and 
thence by the Wilkesbarre turnpike, through the 
"AVind-Gap" of the Blue Mountains, and across 
the wild and far-famed P okono. A less direct but 
more romantic route was chosen by the writer, for 
the purpose of visiting the stupendous scenery of 
the Delaware " Water-Gap." 

From New-York to Morristown by rail-road, 
passing through Newark, Orange, Millville and 
Chatham. The country is agreeably diversified 
with highland and plain — orchards and cultiva- 
ted fields — verdant groves crowning the hills, or 
stretching down their sides to the Passaic river 
and its tributaries ; their superb vegetation run- 
ning down the dales, where the rich elms and wil- 
lows bend their branches over the streams and 
fountains, affording landscape-glimpses of surpas- 
sing beauty. On the side of one of these hills, of 
moderate elevation, sheltered from the northwest, 
and looking into the valley of the sinuous Pas- 
saic, stands the modest country retreat of the Hon. 



62 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

James Kent, formerly Chief Justice, and after- 
ward Chancellor of the State of New-York. The 
country thence to the base of Schooley's Mountain 
— anciently called the Muskonetcong — rapidly as- 
sumes a rougher aspect. The hills often aspire to a 
more respectable size, and with the increasing al- 
titude the farms appear less productive. Still, there 
are meadows and pastures " full of fresh verdure," 
while there is beauty to be descried in many a 
'' winding vale " below. A brisk stream laves the 
eastern base of the Muskonetcong, flowing to the 
south, and affording abundant water-power for 
mills and manufactories. The ascent of the moun- 
tain is by a winding road sufficiently steep to re- 
mind one of Beattie's pathetic exclamation: — 

*' How hard it is to climb 1" 

and affording a broad and beautifully varigated 
landscape, as the traveller occasionally stops to 
breathe and look behind. The height of the moun- 
tain is probably eight hundred or a thousand feet 
— -not above the level of the sea, but from the 
steppe on which it stands. At the point where it 
is crossed by the turnpike, the top of the mountain 
presents the surface of a plain, of perhaps a mile 
and a half in breadth. It is sufficiently rocky to 
require strength and patience in its cultivation, 
and in its primitive condition its aspect must have 
been most forbidding. Nevertheless the energies 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 63 

of man have triumphed over its original steriUty, 
and worse looking farms may often be seen in a 
less rugged country. 

This elevated spot has enjoyed some celebrity 
for more than half a century, as a watering-place, 
from the circumstance that a mineral spring flows 
from its rocks, the waters of which are esteemed 
excellent for bathing. There are two public 
houses, of ancient and respectable aspect, for the 
accommodation of boarders — those who desire to 
apply the waters of the fountain, and those who 
visit this place for the benefit of the elastic and 
invigorating mountain air. The first of the two 
large houses approached from the east, is Belmont 
Hall, generally patronised by the New-Yorkers. 
The house is embosomed in a noble grove of oaks, 
afibrding a broad and grateful shade. The other 
hotel is called the Heath House. It stands upon 
a delightful site, and also, like its rival, wears an 
aspect of patrician comfort. This house is the fa- 
vorite resort of the Philadelphians. From both, 
and indeed from the whole mountain table, the 
prospect, on every hand, but especially toward the 
west, affords a broad and magnificent picture — 
extending over many a deep green valley and 
laughing hill, even to the Blue Mountains beyond 
the Delaware. 

The mineral spring gushes from a rock — or rath- 
er oozes, for it has not power to gush — in a wild 



64 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

glen three-quarters of a mile below, toward the 
west. It is a lonely, romantic place, and a small 
bathing-house shelters the spring. The waters are 
slightly tinctured with iron, and are sufficiently 
insipid to the taste of those who have just been 
quaffing from the sparkling fountains of Saratoga. 

The descent is along the ravine already men- 
tioned, which is deep and shadowy, and at times, 
as wild as nature can make it. Emerging from 
the glen, the charming valley of the Muskonetcong 
river welcomes the traveller with a scene of pla- 
cid beauty. Here, crossing the stream, the route 
that had been chosen diverges toward the north, 
through the pleasant village of Hackettstown. 
This section of New-Jersey is not only beautiful 
to the eye, but evidently fertile. As the tourist 
leaves the valley, climbing another range of hills, 
overlooking other magnificent pictures, and again 
descending to the bed of another clear mountain 
stream, the varying prospects, the free air and the 
bright sun, with here and there a flitting mass of 
cloud darkening for a moment a wood-girt hill, 
affi)rd a succession of objects for delighted con- 
templation. 

In ascending from one of these valleys, between 
Hackettstown and Vienna, the road crosses the 
Morris Canal, leading from Easton to Jersey City, 
opposite to New-York. It is an important work 
for New-York, opening, as it does, a direct pas- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 65 

sage by water to the coal mines of the Lehigh in 
Pennsylvania. 

At the distance of some eight or ten miles from 
the valley of the Muskonetcong, after crossing the 
Pequest river, and ascending a hill which aspires 
to the character of a mountain, a landscape opens 
to the north, of singular grandeur and magnifi- 
cence. The Delaware Water-Gap must be more 
than twenty miles distant, yet the eye, overlook- 
ing many a beautiful hill and romantic valley in 
the foreground, at once catches the bold outline 
of the cleft mountains in the distance, strongly 
relieved against the hoary crests of the mountains 
yet more remote. On the left, from the same el- 
evation, as the eye stretches over the hills beyond 
the Delaware, the noble range of the Blue Moun- 
tains rises in glorious prospect. 

At the next resting place, which is the town of 
Hope, the notice of the stranger is attracted by the 
peculiar construction of the inn, an ancient stone 
edifice, unusually large for such a purpose, and 
having a wide hall across either end, with a flight 
of steps ascending to the second story in each. 
It was once a Moravian Church — the United 
Brethren having originally planted that town, as 
a missionary post — and hence its name. The 
feet of Ziesberger and Zinzendorf, of Buettner 
and Ranch, have trodden that soil, and perhaps 

this band of self-denying apostles themselves have 

3# 



66 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

partaken of the sacramental cup within the very 
walls now affording shelter and refreshment to 
any that may choose to call. This, too, was within 
the missionary region traversed by holy Brainerd, 
whose principal station, while engaged as a mis- 
sionary among the Indians, was at the " Forks of 
the Delaware," as the junction of the Delaware 
and Lehigh was called.* And where, now, are 
the dusky congregations of the Aborigines to whom 
they preached the everlasting Gospel ? Echo an- 
swers — " fVhcre ?" The most war-like and noble 
of the New-Jersey Indians, chiefly Delawares, but 
some of whom were of the Five Nations, were 
planted in this section of New- Jersey when the 
white men came. Nor was the most sagacious 
among them without gloomy forebodings of what 
was to be their fate, after the pale faces should 
obtain a permanent foothold. A sachem of one 
of these Jersey clans, being observed to look with 
solemn attention upon the great comet which ap- 

*" Whom the gods love die young," says the heathen proverb. It wag 
so with David Brainerd, a wonderful man, who finished his work at the 
early age of thirty and went to his rest. His frame was slender, and hav- 
ing worn out his feeble constitution by excessive labor, he returned to 
Northampton, — to the family of the illustrious Edwards, his friend and 
patron — for the purpose, as he hoped, of recruiting his health,— but in re- 
ality to die. " I have often walked in the little foot-path which goes around 
his quiet resting-place, and even those who have dropped a tear over Mar- 
tyn's grave in Persia, also drop a tear here. And here at the " Forkes " 
still wave the tall sycamore trees under which that self-denying man 
taught the tawny sons of the forest as they came around him as a father, 
and loved him as they loved their own souls."— iietj. John Todd, 1839. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 67 

peared in October, 16S0, was asked what he 
thought was the meaning of that prodigious and 
wonderful object. He answered gravely — " It 
signifies that we Indians shall melt away, like the 
snow in spring, and this country be inhabited by 
another people.'^ The forest king was a prophet 
as well as a hunter. 

Five miles from Hope is Autun's ferry, over 
which travellers are conveyed by a flat boat ; and 
from hence it is yet seven miles to the Water-Gap, 
over a rugged road, but through scenery beauti- 
fully wild and romantic. The course of the road 
is generally upon the elevated margin of the river, 
bright glimpses of which often appear through the 
trees, like tiny lakes of liquid silver, below. At 
length the traveller enters the gorge of the moun- 
tains — the road winding along their base, beneath 
their frowning peaks — narrow, and often upon the 
very verge of a gulf, rendered more appalling by 
the dimness of the light, and his ignorance of its 
depth. 

Geologists suppose the deep, winding chasm 
through this stupendous range of mountains, to 
have been wrought by some mighty convulsion 
of nature, by which the rocks were cloven, and a 
passage formed for the river, the waters of which 
must have previously flowed through some other 
channel. The distance from the southern en- 
trance of the pass to the hotel, which stands upon 



63 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

a subdued jutting promontory, toward its northern 
termination, is only two miles, but at least an hour 
is generally employed in overcoming it, and at night 
the time seems two. The tourist, however, can- 
not enjoy to the full the grandeur of the scene, 
and the feelings of elevated though chastened de- 
light incident to its contemplation, without study- 
ing it by night, as well as by day. Sensations of 
solemn grandeur are awakened by threading a 
chasm profound and solitary like this, in the gloom 
of night, studying the sharp outlines of the moun- 
tains against the sky, and occasionally catching a 
glimpse of a precipice beetling over the gulf, by 
the aid of a casual mass of light thrown against it 
by the fitful moon, and rendering the shadows be- 
low denser and more palpable. 

Less thrilling, though not less sublime, and 
more beautiful, is the view of this wild Alpine 
landscape in the early morning of a bright day. 
The masses of naked rocks, on the eastern side of 
the river toward the southern gorge, rising to an 
elevation of eight hundred or a thousand feet, in 
some places as upright and smooth as though a 
creation of art, and at others spiked, ragged and 
frowning, are comparatively undistinguishable 
while obscured by the raven wing of night. But 
their dusky sublimity is greatly enhanced when 
revealed to the eye in their unclouded majesty and 
grandeur by the light of day. In the gray of the 



;'.% 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 69 

morning, before yet the sun has gilded their tops, 
standing upon the jutting point already mention- 
ed as the site of the hotel, almost the entire sec- 
tion comprising this remarkable passage is distinct- 
ly in view, — gloomy from the yet unretreating 
shade, — and disclosing the abrupt sinuosities of 
the river, together with all the irregularities of rock 
and mountain incident to such a formation ; — the 
mountains, for the most part, clothed with wood 
to their summits, and the whole scene as wild and 
fresh as though just from the hand of nature. 
Low in the gulf, at the base of the mountains, a 
cloud of milk-white vapor sleeps upon the bosom 
of the river. In the course of half an hour, with 
a change of temperature in the superincumbent 
atmosphere, the vapor begins to ascend, and a 
gentle current of air wafts it, as by the sweet soft 
breathing of morn herself, without breaking the 
cloud, to the western side of the river. There, 
for a while, it hangs in angel whiteness, like a zone 
of silver belting the mountain. Below, along the 
whole course of the gulf, the sides of the mountains 
are yet clad in solemn and shadowy drapery, while 
in bright and glorious contrast, the sun having at 
length begun climbing the sky in good earnest, 
their proud crests are now glittering with golden 
radiance. 

By climbing a mountain behind the hotel to the 
northwest, and looking into the chasm toward the 



70 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

south, a fine view of the zig-zag course of the 
river is afforded, down to the second turn, where 
its deep narrow volume is apparently brought to 
an end by the intervention of the buttress of rock 
on the Jersey shore, already adverted to. But the 
best position for surveying the whole pass, and 
enjoying its sublimity to entire satisfaction, is 
from a small boat paddled along leisurely upon the 
river through the gulf. The maps furnish no just 
idea of the channel of the river through the gap — 
the actual course resembling the sharp curvatures 
of an angry serpent before he is coiled, or rather, 
perhaps, this section of the river would be best 
delineated by a line like a letter S. The gener- 
al height of the mountain barriers is about sixteen 
hundred feet. They are all very precipitous ; and 
while sailing along their bases in a skiff, their dread- 
ful summits, some of them, seem actually to hang 
beetling over the head. This is especially the case 
with the Jersey mountains — the surfaces of which, 
next the river, as already stated, are of bare rock, 
lying in regular blocks, in long ranges, as even as 
though hewn, and laid in stratifications, like stu- 
pendous masonry — •" the masonry of God !" 

Not far from the hotel, among the mountains 
above, is a small lake, which has been dammed 
at the foot, and converted into a trout-pond. By 
opening a sluice-gate, an artificial cataract can at 
any time be formed by the waters of the lake, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 71 

which come rushing down a precipitous rock two 
or three hundred feet into the embrace of the 
river, as though leaping for joy at their hberation. 
The scene of the Water-Gap, as a whole, and as 
a point of attraction for the lovers of nature in her 
wildness and grandeur, by far transcends the high- 
lands of Hudson's river, or even the yet more ad- 
mired region of the Horicon.* 

Unless the tourist descends by the course of the 
river, twenty miles, to Easton, the route from the 
Water-Gap to Wyoming is by Stroudsburg, flank- 
ing the Kittaninny f Hills, being the northern spur 
of the Blue Mountains ; thence southwest, travel- 
ing along their western side to intersect the Easton 
and Wilkesbarre turnpike, at a notch through that 
section of these mountains, called the W ind-Gap. 
The course is north, two and a half miles along 
the Delaware, to the estuary of a considerable and 
rapid stream, called Broadhead's Greek, by the 
moderns, from the name of one of the first white 
settlers of the country. The Indian name, far more 
euphonical, is Analomink. Thence west to 
Stroudsburg. This is a pleasantly situated village, 
the planting of which was commenced by a gen- 
tleman named Stroud, before the war of the Amer- 
ican revolution. It stands upon a sweet plain, 

♦ A doubtful Indian name of Lake George. 

f Kittaninny is the modern orthography. The ancient was " the Kakatch- 
lanamin Hills." But the name is spelt in almost as many different ways 
as there are books and manuscripts in which the range is mentioned. 



72 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

having a mountain for an everlasting prospect on 
the south, between which and the village flows the 
Pokono Creek, descending from the mountain 
range of that name, and uniting with the Analo- 
mink in its neighborhood. Stroudsburg is the 
shire town of Monroe County. The settlements 
at this place, during the French war of 1755 — 
1763, formed the northern frontier of Pennsylva- 
nia, and were within the territory of the Minisink 
Indians, or Monseys, as they were sometimes 
called. The chain of military posts erected by the 
colony of Pennsylvania, extending from the Dela- 
ware to the Potomac, was commenced at this point ; 
and the celebrated chief of the Lenelenoppes, or 
Delaware Indians, Teedyuscung, was occasionally 
a resident here. This chieftain was an able man, 
who played a distinguished but subtle part during 
the border troubles of the French war, particularly 
toward the close of his life. He was charged with 
treachery toward the English, and perhaps justly ; 
and yet candor demands the acknowledgment, 
that he did not take up the hatchet against them 
without something more than a plausible reason ; 
while by so doing, he was the means of restoring 
to his people something of the dignity characteris- 
tic of his race, but which had almost disappeared 
under the oppression of the Six Nations. He was 
professedly a convert to the Moravian Missiona- 
ries. His wife was sincerely such, and became a 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 73 

Steadfast and exemplary member of the Christian 
Church. But according to the journals of the mis- 
sionaries themselves, as collated by Loskiel, his 
conduct in subsequent years reflected but little 
credit upon the faith of his new spiritual advisers.* 
Whether injustice may not have been done him 
in this respect also, is a question upon which much 
light will be thrown in a subsequent chapter. He 
came to a melancholy end : but it is not necessa- 
ry to anticipate the progress of events, soon to be 
unfolded for consideration in their regular order. 

The country immediately west of the Blue 
Mountains, at least as far in either direction as it 
could be viewed from the ancient tavern in the 
vicinity of the Gap of tEoIus, is exceedingly wild 
and forbidding. A deep and gloomy ravine, 

" Tangled with fern and intricate with thorn," 

interposes between the base of the mountain and 
the partially cultivated land beyond, and the moun- 

*'* Among those baptised in 1750 was one Tadeuskund, called Honest 
John by the English. His baptism was delayed some time, because of his 
wavering disposition. But having once been present at a baptism, he said 
to one of the brethren : — " I am distressed that the time is not yet come 
'hat I siiall be baptised and cleansed in the blood of Christ." Being ask- 
ed liow he felt daring the baptism, he replied : — ' ] cannot describe it ; but 
I wept and trembled.' He then spoke witii the .Missionaries in a very unre- 
served manner, saying that he had been a very bad man all his life, that 
iie had no power to resist evil, and that he had never before been so desi- 
rous to be delivered from sin, and to be made partaker of our Lord's grace, 
and added — ' O that I were baptised and cleansed in his blood !' lie 
evinced this fervor ever after, and was named Gideon." — Loskiel. 

9 



74 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

tain itself is darkly wooded, on that side, to its 
crest. During the first ten miles of the distance 
toward Wyoming the country is exceedingly hilly, 
and for the most part but indifferently cultivated 
— albeit an occasional farm presents an exception. 
Several of the hills are steep, and high, and broad. 
In the direction of Pokono Mountain the country 
becomes more wild and rugged — affording, of 
course, at every turn, and from the top of every 
hill, extensive prospects, and ever-changing land- 
scapes, diversified with woodlands, cornfields, farm- 
houses, rocks and glens. 

When the summit of Pokono is attained, the 
traveller is upon the top of that wild and desolate 
table of Pennsylvania, extending for upward of 
a hundred miles, between and parallel with the 
Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and from twen- 
ty to thirty-five miles in breadth. Behind him is 
a noble landscape of wooded hills and cultivated 
valleys, bounded eastward and south by the Blue 
Mountains, which form a branching range of the 
Alleghanies. The Wind-Gap is distinctly and 
beautifully in sight. But facing westwardly, and 
glancing toward the north, and the south, the pros- 
pect is as dreary as naked rocks, and shrub oaks, 
and stunted pines and a death-like solitude can 
make it. The general surface is rough and bro- 
ken, hills rising, and valleys sinking, by fifties, if 
not by hundreds, over the whole broad mountain 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 75 

surface. In many places, for miles, there is no 
human habitation in view, and no one bright or 
cheerful spot upon which the eye can repose. The 
gloom, if not the grandeur, of a large portion of 
this inhospitable region, is increased by the cir- 
cumstance that it is almost a continuous morass, 
across which the turnpike is formed by a cause- 
way of logs, insufficiently covered with earth, and 
bearing the appropriate name of a corduroy road.* 
The next stopping place is in the valley of the 
Tobyhanna, a black looking tributary of the Le- 
high — eight miles. Now and then, sometimes at 
the distance of one mile, and again at the distance 
of three or four, is passed a miserable human dwel- 
ling : but the country presents the same sullen, 
rude, uncultivable character. From the Tobyhan- 
na to Stoddardsville, on the dreary banks of the 
Lehigh itself, is another eight miles of most enor- 
mous length. There are ravines, and more gentle 
valleys, but they are not fertile. There are hills, 
but they are sterile and forbidding — -rough with 
brambles, or destitute of all comely vegetation. 
The w^aters of the Lehigh, oozing from fens and 
marshes, are dark and angry as the Styx. The 
axes of the lumbermen, and the fires repeatedly 
kindled to sweep over the mountains by the ruth- 

* This route was first cut through by General Sullivan, for the passage 
of his army, in the celebrated campaign against the country of the Six Na- 
tions in 1779 



76 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

less hunters, have long since destroyed the native 
forest-pines ; and in their stead the whole country 
has been covered with dwarfs — oak and pine — 
among which, standing here and there in blacken- 
ed solitude, may be seen the scathed trunk of a 
yet unfallen primitive. In the contemplation of 
such an impracticable mass of matter as this ex- 
tended mountain range presents, one cannot but 
apply the language of Dr. Johnson relative to some 
portions of the highlands of Scotland, who charac- 
terizes it as matter which has apparently been 
the fortuitous production of the fighting elements ; 
matter, incapable of power and usefulness, dismiss- 
ed by nature from her care, or quickened only by 
one sullen power of useless vegetation. 



CHAPTER II. 

Wilkesbarre — The Landscape — Indian names of Wyoming — The Dela- 
wares and their origin — Ancient remains — The Shavvanese sent to Wyo- 
ming — Relations between the Delawares and Six Nations — Indian Coun- 
cil at Philadelphia, in 1749— Canassateego — ^Ijis speech — The Delawares 
driven to Wyoming — Tradition of the Delawares respecting their submis- 
sion to the Six Nations — Refutation by General Harrison. 

The first glance into the far-famed Valley of Wy- 
oming, travelling westwardly, is from the brow of 
the Pokono mountain range, below which it lies 
at the depth of a thousand feet, distinctly defined 
by the double barrier of nearly parallel mountains, 
between which it is embosomed. There is a beet- 
ling precipice upon the verge of the eastern bar- 
rier, called " Prospect Rock," from the top of which 
nearly the entire valley can be surveyed at a sin- 
gle view, forming one of the richest and mo^t 
beautiful landscapes upon which the eye of man 
ever rested. Through the centre of the valley 
flows the Susquehanna, the winding course of 
which can be traced the whole distance. Several 
green islands slumber sweetly in its embrace, while 
the sight revels amidst the garniture of fields and 
woodlands, and to complete the picture, low in ths 
9* 



78 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

distance may be dimly seen the borough of Wil- 
kesbarre* ; especially the spires of its churches. 

The hotel at which the traveller rests in Wilkes- 
barre is upon the margin of the river, the waters 
of which are remarkably transparent and pure, ex- 
cepting in the seasons of the spring and autumnal 
floods. But a few rods above a noble bridge spans 
the river, leading from Wilkesbarre to the opposite 
town of Kingston. From the observatory of the 
hotel a full view of the whole valley is obtained — 
or rather, in a clear atmosphere, the steep wild 
mountains, by which the valley is completely shut 
in, rise on every hand with a distinctness which 
accurately defines its dimensions, — while the val- 
ley itself, especially on the western, or opposite side 
of the river, presents a view of several small towns, 
or scattered villages, planted along, but back from 
the river, at the distance of a few miles apart, — 
the whole intervening and contiguous territory 
being divided into farms and gardens, with fruit 
and ornamental trees. Comfortable farm-houses 
are thickly studded over the valley ; among which 
are not a few more ambitious dwellings, denoting 
by their air, and the disposition of their grounds, 
both wealth and taste. Midway through the val- 
ley winds the river, its banks adorned with grace- 

-^Tliis compound was formed, and bestowed upon this borough as its 
name, in honor of Jo/m Wilkes and Colonel Barre — names famous in the 
annals of British politics at the time when it was planted by the whites. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 79 

ful and luxuriant foliage, and disclosing at every 
turn some bright s}3ot of beauty. On the eastern 
side, in the rear of the borough, and for a few miles 
north, the dead level of the valley is rendered still 
more picturesque, by being broken into swelling 
elevations and lesser valleys, adorned in spots with 
groves and clumps of trees, with the ivy and other 
creeping parasites, as upon the river brink, cling- 
ing to their branches and adding beauty to the 
graceful foliage. The village or borough of Wilkes- 
barre, so far as the major part of the buildings are 
to be taken into the account, is less beautiful than 
it might be. Nevertheless there are a goodly num- 
ber of well built and genteel houses, to which, and 
the pleasant gardens attached, the pretty couplet 
of the poet might be applied : — 

Tall trees o'ersliade them, creepers fondly grace 
Lattice and porch, and sweetest flowers embrace. 

The people are for the most part the sons and 
daughters of New-England, and have brought with 
them into this secluded region the simple manners 
and habits, and the piety of their fathers. 

This valley of Wyoming is rich in its historical 
associations, even of days long preceding the events 
of the American revolution, which were the occa- 
sion of its consecration in the deathless song pre- 
fixed to the present narrative. The length of the 
valley, from the Lackawannock Gap, where the 



80 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Susquehanna plunges into it through a narrow de- 
file of high rocky mountains at the north, to a like 
narrow pass called the Nanticoke Gap, at the south, 
is nearly twenty miles — averaging about three 
miles in width. As already mentioned, it is walled 
in by ranges of steep mountains of about one thou- 
sand feet in height upon the eastern side, and eight 
hundred feet upon the western. These mountains 
are very irregular in their formation, having eleva- 
ted points, and deep ravines, or openings, which 
are called gaps. They are in general yet as wild 
as when discovered, and are clothed with pines, 
dwarf oaks and laurels, interspersed with other 
descriptions of woods — deciduous and evergreen. 
Like many other places of which the red man 
has been dispossessed, and which may previously 
have belonged to different clans or tribes of the 
same race, this valley has been known by a varie- 
ty of names. By the Lenelenoppes, or Delawares, 
its original proprietors, so far as its history is 
known, the valley was called Maugh-ivaii-iva-me, 
or The Large Meadows. The Five Nations, who 
conquered it from the Delawares, called it S'gah' 
on-io-wa-no, or The Large Flats, The early 
German missionaries, Moravians, catching the 
sound as nearly as they could, wrote the name iV7'- 
cheweuwami. Other corruptions and pronuncia- 
tions succeeded; among which were WyomiCj Wa^ 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 81 

jomick, Wyomink, and lastly Wyoming, which 
will not soon be changed.* 

The territory forming the states of Pennsylvania, 
New-Jersey, Delaware, and part of Maryland, was 
principally in the occupancy of the Lenelenoppes, 
consisting of many distinct tribes and sub-divisions, 
at the time of the settlement of the country by the 
Europeans. The name Delaware was given them 
by the English, after the name they had bestowed 
upon the river along which their larger towns were 
situated, in honor of Lord De la Warr.f There 
were indeed clans or military colonies of the Aqua- 
nuschioni, or " United People ;" the Maquas or 
Mengwes of the Dutch, and the Iroquois of the 
French, but chietiy known in American history as 
the Five, and afterward the Six Nations, already 
among them, within the territory now forming both 
New-Jersey and Pennsylvania. But these were 
not large, and the Lenelenoppes, or Original Peo- 
ple, as the name denotes, composed the great ma- 
jority.J 

* I have two manuscript letters of Sir William Johnson, dated March 
23, and 25, 1763, in both of which he writes " Skahandowana, or Wyo- 
ming." The Moravian journals forming the basis of Loskiel's history, 
uniformly gave the name " Wajomick." 

t The Indian name of the Delaware was Maku-isk-kiskan. 

J The Lenelenoppes, at that time, consisted of the Assumpinks, Ranko- 
kas, (Lamikas, or Chickaquaas,) Andastakas, Neshaminies, Shackmaxons, 
Mantas, Minisinks, and Mandes ; and within what is now New-Jersey, 
the Narraticongs, Capitinasses, Gacheos, Munseys, and Pomptons.— P'ide 
Fraud's Pennsylvania. 



82 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

It is said by those who are skilled in Indian re- 
searches, that the Lenelenoppes, although claim- 
ing thus to be the original people, were not the 
first occupants of the country in the possession of 
which they were found ; but that they came hither 
from toward the setting sun, — that terra incognita 
'' the great west." According to their own tradi- 
tions, when on their way thence they found strong 
nations, having regular military defences, in the 
country of the Mississippi, whom they conquered. 
Pursuing their course toward the east, they took 
possession of the sea coast from the Hudson river 
to the Potomac, including the country of the Del- 
aware and Susquehanna rivers, to their sources. 
In the allotment of their newly acquired territory, 
one of their tribes, the Munseys or Minisinks, plant- 
ed themselves in the region between the Kittatin- 
nunk,* or Blue Mountains, and the Susquehanna. 
One large division of their tribe kindled their coun- 
cil fire at Minisink, and another in the valley of 
Wyoming, — formerly occupied by the Susquehan- 
nocks, — once a powerful nation which had been 
exterminated by the Aquanuschioni. Whether 
there be any just foundation for the legends of the 
Delawares, as to their battles and conquests over 
a people so far in advance of themselves in the 
art of war as to have reared strong and extensive 

* Another variation in the orthography of these mountains. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 83 

military works, or not, it is nevertheless certain, 
from the character and extent of the tumuli exist- 
ing in the valley of Wyoming when taken posses- 
sion of by the pale faces, and from the fact that 
large oaks were growing upon some of the mounds, 
that the country, centuries before, had been in the 
possession of a race of men far in advance of the 
Delawares in the arts of civilization and war. 

There was a time when the Shawanese Indians, 
who had been driven from their own country, in 
what is now Georgia and Florida, by a nation or 
nations more powerful than themselves, occupied, 
by permission, a portion of territory at the forks of 
the Delaware ; but finding them to be troublesome 
neighbors, the Delawares, then in their greatest 
numbers residing farther down the river, compell- 
ed them to remove, — assigning to their use the 
valley of Wyoming, (whence the Munseys had re- 
turned back to the Delaware,) and a portion of the 
territory farther down the Susquehanna, at Sha- 
molvin. Thither the Shawanese removed — plant- 
ing themselves anew at both points. They were 
indeed as Bancroft describes them, '' a restless 
nation of wanderers," and for years subsequent 
to the commencement of the English colonies in 
America, their separate clans were straggling in 
the woods and simultaneously kindling their fires 
upon the waters of the Mobile, the Santee, the 
Schenandoah, the Ohio, Delaware and Susquehan- 



84 HISTORY OF WYOMING?* 

na. In Wyoming they built their town upon the 
west side of the river, below the present town of 
Kingston, upon what are to this day called the 
Shawaniese Flatts.* 

It is difficult to determine the question as to 
the exact relations subsisting between the Dela- 
wares and the Five Nations, at the period under 
consideration. The latter, it is well known, had 
carried their arms south to the Tennessee, and 
claimed the jurisdiction of the entire country from 
the Sorel, in Canada, south of the Great Lakes, to 
the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi, and 
to the Atlantic coast, from the Santee to the estu- 
ary of the Hudson, by the right of conquest. Over 
the Delawares they claimed, and, at times, exer- 
cised, sovereign power, in the most dictatorial and 
arbitrary manner, although the venerable and ex- 
cellent Heckewelder, ever the champion of the 
Delawares, labors hard to show that the latter were 
never conquered by them. Brant, the celebrated 
Mohawk chieftain, than whose authority there is 

* It was comparatively but a small clan of the Shavvanese which came 
to the Delaware, numbering no more at the first, according to Bancroft, 
who cited the Logan Mss. for his authoritj', than sixty or eighty families 
Their number however, was subsequently increased, so that about the 
year 1732, they counted between three and four hundred warriors within 
the territory of Pennsylvania. It is most likely that in leaving the south 
the larger portion of the nation diverged to the west, on their way from 
he south, settling at Shawnee-town— on the Ohio,— being afterwards joined 
by their brethren in the Delaware country. They were certainly a people 
of so much consideration as to be addressed as " Brothers" by the 
Aquanuschioni. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 85 

none better upon such a subject, in a letter to the 
Rev. Dr. Miller of Princeton, never yet published, 
claimed but a quasi sovereignty for the Aquanus- 
chioni over the Delawares. But there was a trans- 
action in 1742, which shows that the latter were 
at that time in a situation of the most abject sub- 
ordination to the Six Nations ;* and Proud says 
this confederacy " had held sovereignty over all 
the Indians, both in Pennsylvania and the neigh- 
boring provinces, for a long series of years. "f 
Though apparently a digression, the transaction 
referred to is nevertheless intimately connec- 
ted with the history of Wyoming, and a rapid 
review of the incident cannot be out of place. 

In the summer of 1742, an Indian council was 
convened in Philadelphia, upon the invitation of 
Lieutenant Governor George Thomas, at that time 
administering the government of the Proprietaries, 
as William Penn and his successors were styled. 
The council was numerously attended, large dele- 
gations being present from each of the Six Nations, 
excepting the Senecas. Of tliese there were but 
three chiefs at the council, — that nation having 
been prevented sending a stronger deputation by 

* Early in the eighteenth century the Five Nations were increased to Six 
by the addition of the Tuscaroras, from North Carolina. The Five Nations 
adopted and transplanted them on account of a similarity in their lan- 
guage to their own, inducing the belief that they were originally of the 
Bime Slock. 

t Proud's Pennsylvania, vol. ii. p. 293. 

10 



86 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

reason of a famine in their country, " so great that 
a father had been compelled to sacrifice a part of 
his family, even his own children, for the support 
and preservation of himself and the other part.''* 
There seem likewise to have been no Mohawks 
present.! But the Delawares, several tribes of 
them, were represented. The chief object for the 
convocation of this council was '' to kindle a new 
lire," and '' strengthen the chain of friendship" 
with the Indians, in anticipation of a war with 
France. Other subjects were brought before the 
council for consideration. Among them, the Gov- 
ernor produced a quantity of goods, — being, as he 
remarked in his speech, a balance due the Indians 
for a section of the valley of the Susquehanna, " on 
both sides of the river," which had been purchased 
of the Six Nations six years before. Canassatee- 
go, a celebrated Onondaga chief, who was the 
principal speaker on the part of the Indians during 
the protracted sittings of the council, recognized 
the sale of the land. But in the course of their 
discussions, he took occasion to rebuke the whites 
for trespassing upon the unceded lands northward 
of the Kittochtinny Hills, and also upon the Juni- 

* Opening speech of Governor Tliomas to the Six Nations. Vide Col. 
den's Canada, Appendix, p. 59. 

t To illustrate, in part, the changes which Indian names undergo, in the 
process of writing them by different hands, it may he noted that at this 
council, Onondagas was spelt Ohow^o^os ; Cayugas, Caiyoquod; Oneidas, 
Anoyints; Senecas, Jenontowanos ; Tuscaroras, Tuscaroros. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 87 

ata. "That country," said Canassateego, "be- 
longs to us, in right of conquest ; we having bought 
it with our blood, and taken it from our enemies 
in fair war."* 

This, however, was not the principal transaction 
establishing the fact that the Six Nations were in 
the exercise of absolute power over the Delawares. 
On the fourth day of the council, the acting Gov- 
ernor called the attention of the Six Nations to the 
conduct of " a branch of their cousins, the Dela- 
wares," in regard to a section of territory, at the 
Forks of the river, which the Proprietaries had 
purchased of them fifty-five years before, but from 
which the Indians had refused to remove. The 
consequence had been a series of unpleasant dis- 
turbances between the white settlers and the red- 
men ; and as the latter were ever prompt in calling 
upon the Proprietaries to remove white intruders 
from their lands, the acting Governor now in turn 
called upon the Six Nations to remove those In- 
dians from the lands at the Forks, which had been 
purchased and paid for in good faith such a long 
while ago. 

* In regard to this complaint of the encroachments of the white settlers 
upon their lands, it appears that it had been preferred before. Gov. Thomas, 
in reply, stated that the Proprietaries had endeavored to prevent those 
intrusions, and had sent magistrates expressly to remove the intruders. To 
which Ganasseteego rejoined — " They did not do their dutyj so far from 
removing the people, they leagued with the trespassers, and made sur- 
veys for themselves !" Thus has it been with the poor Indians always. 



8S HISTORY OF WYOxMING. 

After three days' consideration, the Indians 
came again into council, when Canasseteego open- 
ed the proceedings by saying that they had care- 
fully examined the case, and "had seen with their 
own eyes," that their cousins had been " a very 
unruly people, "and were ''altogether in the wrong." 
They had therefore determined to remove them. 
Then turning to the Delawares, and holding a belt 
of wampum in his hand, he spoke to them as fol- 
lows : 

" Cousins ! Let this belt of wampum serve to 
chastise you ! You ought to be taken by the hair 
of the head and shaken severely, till you recover 
your senses and become sober. You don't know 
what ground you stand on, nor what you are do- 
ing. Our brother Onas's* cause is very just and 
plain, and his intentions are to preserve friend- 
ship. On the other hand, your cause is bad ; your 
heart far from being upright ; and you are mali- 
ciously bent to break the chain of friendship with 
our brother Onas, and his people. We have seen 
with our eyes a deed signed by nine of your an- 
cestors above fifty years ago, for this very land, 
and a release signed, not many years since, by 
some of yourselves and chiefs now living, to the 
number of fifteen or upward. But how came you 

* Onus, in the Indian tongue, signifies Pen, and was the name by which 
tliey always addressed the Governors of Pennsylvania, in honor of its foun- 
der. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 89 

to take upon you to sell land at all ? We conquer- 
ed you ; we made women of you ; you know you 
are women, and can no more sell land than wo- 
men. Nor is it fit you should have the power of 
selling lands, since you would abuse it. This land 
that you claim has gone through your bellies ; you 
have been furnished with clothes, meat and drink, 
by the goods paid you for it ; and now you want 
it again, like little children — as you are ! But what 
makes you sell land in the dark ? Did you ever 
tell us that you had sold this land ? Did we ever 
receive any part, even the value of a pipe-shank, 
from you for it ? You have told us a blind story,* 
that you sent a messenger to us to inform us of the 
sale ; but he never came among us, nor did we 
ever hear any thing about it. This is acting in 
the dark, and very different from the conduct our 
Six Nations observe in the sales of land. On such 
occasions they give public notice, and invite all 
the Indians of their United Nations, and give them 
all a share of the presents they receive for their 
lands. This is the behavior of the wise United 
Nations. But we find you are none of our blood : 
you act a dishonest part, not only in this, but in 
other matters : your ears are ever open to slander- 
ous reports about your brethren : you receive them 
with as much greediness as lewd women receive 

* Referring, probably, to explanations the Delawares had attempted to, 
give in their private consultations. 

10* 



90 



HISTORY OF WY03IING. 



the embraces of bad men. And for these reasons, 
we charge you to remove instantly. We don't 
give you the Hberty to think about it. You are 
women. Take the advice of a wise man, and re- 
move immediately. You may return to the other 
side of the Delaware, where you came from. But 
we do not know whether, considering how you 
have demeaned yourselves, you will be permitted 
to live there ; or whether you have not swallowed 
that land down your throats, as well as the land 
on this side. We therefore assign you two places 
to go to — either to Wyoming, or Shamokin. You 
may go to either of these places, and then we shall 
have you more under our eye, and shall see how 
you behave. Don't deliberate, but remove away, 
and take this belt of wampum." 

This speech having been translated into Eng- 
lish, and also into the Delaware tongue, Canassa- 
teego took another string of wampum, and pro- 
ceeded : — 

*' Cousins ! After our just reproof and absolute 
order to depart from the land, you are now to take 
notice of what we have further to say to you. 
This string of wampum serves to forbid you, your 
children and grand-children, to the latest posteri- 
ty, forever, meddling with land affairs. Neither 
you, nor any that shall descend from you, are ever 
hereafter to presume to sell any land : for which 
purpose you are to preserve this string in memory 



HISTORY OF WYOMING 



91 



of what your uncles have this day given you in 
charge. We have some other business to trans- 
act with our brethren, and therefore depart the 
council, and consider what has been said to you."* 
There was no diplomatic mincing of words in 
the speech of the Onondaga chieftain. He spoke 
not only with the bluntness of unsophisticated 
honesty, but with the air of one having authority, 
nor dared the Delawares to disobey his peremp- 
tory command. They immediately left the coun- 
cil, and soon afterward removed from the dispu- 
ted territory — some few of them to Shamokin,f 

* Canassateego was famous as an orator and counsellor among the On. 
ondagas, and his counsels and memory were cherished by the people of the 
Six Nations, for a long number of years. Dr. Franklin has somewhere re- 
lated an amusing anecdote of him, the point of which lies in the circum- 
stance of his visiting Albany once, to sell his furs, and going to church 
with Hans Jansen, the merchant to whom he expected to sell them. Can- 
assateego took it into his head, during the service, that the minister was 
preaching about him and his furs. And he was confirmed in this opinion 
after ciiurch, from the fact that Jansen offered him six pence per pound 
less than he had done before the sservice. Everybody else, moreover, to 
whom he afterward offered to sell his furs, would only give him three and 
sixpence per pound after church, in stead of four shillings per pound, as 
had been offered before. The old chief therefore concluded that the min- 
ister had been preaching down the price of his beaver-skins, and he had 
no good opinion of the " black coats " afterward. It is stated by some 
authorities, that he was acompanied by two hundred and thirty warriors on 
his visit to Philadelphia to attend the council spoken of in the text. 

t Shamokin was an Indian town at the junction of the east and west 
branches of the Susquehanna, sixty miles belovv Wyoming. It was a sort 
of military colony of the Six Nations, and the residence of the celebrated 
Cayuga chief Shickcalamy, or Shikellimus, the father of the yet more cele- 
brated Logan, the chief who has been immortalized by Mr. Jeffersen in his 
Notes on Virginia. Shamokin stood upon the site of the present town of 
Northumberland, where Dr. Priestley spent the latter days of his life, and 
died. Logan was named after James Logan, the companion of Pcnn — a 
learned man— for a long time secretary of the colony, and greatly beloved 
by the Indians. 



92 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

but the greater portion to Wyoming. The whole 
tenor of the speech, moreover, goes to estabUsh 
the fact that the Delawares were the dependants — 
indeed the abject subjects — of the Aquanuschioni, 
or Mengwe, as the Six Nations have been fre- 
quently called by modern writers. But the ques- 
tions how, and at what time, the Lenelenoppes 
were brought into such a humiliating condition, 
cannot be answered with precision. The Dela- 
wares themselves allege that they were beguiled 
into a surrender of their national and political 
manhood, and Mr. Heckewelder has attempted to 
sustain the pretension. According to their tradi- 
tion, the Mengwe and Lenelenoppes had long been 
at war, and the advantages were with the latter, 
until for their own common safety the league of 
the Five Nations was formed. Strengthened by 
this union, the fortunes of war began to turn in 
their favor — especially as they were soon after- 
w^ard supplied with fire-arms by the Dutch, who 
were now engaged in colonizing the country of the 
Hudson river. By the aid of fire-arms the Men- 
gwe were enabled for a time to contend both with 
the" Lenelenoppes and their new enemies on the 
north — the French ; but finding themselves at 
length severely pressed, they hit upon the strata- 
gem by which their older enemy was caught with 
guile, and disarmed by reason of his own magna- 
nimity. Among the Indians it is held to be cow- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 93 

ardly for a warrior to sue for peace. Having 
taken up the hatchet, he must retain it, however 
weary of the contest, until his enemy is humbled, 
or peace restored by some fortuitous means other 
than a direct application for a truce by himself. 
It is not so,, however, with their women, who fre- 
quently become mediators, else their wars would 
be interminable. They often throw themselves 
as it were between contending tribes, and plead 
for peace with great pathos and effect ; for not- 
withstanding the common opinion to the contrary, 
there is no people on earth among whom w^oman 
exercises greater influence than she does upon the 
aboriginals of America. " Not a warrior,^' they 
would say, on such occasions, " but laments the 
loss of a son, a brother, or a friend. And moth- 
ers, who have borne with cheerfulness the pangs 
of child-birth, and the anxiety that waits upon the 
infancy and ripening maturity of their sons, behold 
their promised blessings laid low upon the war- 
path, or perishing at the stake in unutterable tor- 
ments." " In the depth of their grief, they curse 
their wretched existence, and shudder at the idea 
of child-bearing. They were w^ont, therefore, to 
conjure their warriors, on account of their suffer- 
ing wives, their helpless children, their homes and 
their friends, to interchange forgiveness, to throw 
down their hatchets, and, smoking together the 
pipe of peace, embrace as friends those whom they 



94 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

had regarded only as enemies."* Appeals like 
these would naturally find a response, even from 
the most savage heart ; and the Delawares allege 
that the Six Nations, availing themselves of this 
humane characteristic of the Indian race, by artful 
appeals to their humanity and benevolence, per- 
suaded them, as the only means of saving the red- 
men from utter extinction by reason of their own 
frequent and bloody wars, to assume the character 
of WOMEN, in order that they might be qualified to 
act as general mediators. In reply to their objec- 
tions, it was urged upon them by their dissembling 
foes that although it would indeed be derogatory 
for a small and feeble nation to assume the femi- 
nine character, a great and strong nation, of 
approved valor, like the Delawares, could not only 
take that step with impunity, but win immortal re- 
nown for their magnanimity. In an evil hour, and 
in a moment of blind confidence, the Delawares 
yielded to the importunity of the Mengwe, and 
formally assumed the petticoat. The ceremony, 
as the Delawares affirm, was performed at Albany, 
or rather Fort Orange, about the year 1617, in the 
presence of the Dutch garrison — whom they charge 
as having aided the Mengwe in their artful scheme 
to subdue without conquering them. The arro- 
gance of the Six Nations, and the rights which 
they assumed over them of protection and com- 

* Heckewelder, and Gordon's History of Peunsylvania. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 95 

mand, soon taught the Delawares the extent of the 
treachery that had been practised against them. 
But it was then too late."^ 

Such is the clumsy manner in which the Del- 
awares endeavor to account for the degraded re- 
lation in which they so long stood in respect to 
the Six Nations. But " Credat Judceus Apella.^^ 
The story of the Six Nations has always been 
consistent upon the subject, viz. ; that the Dela- 
wares were conquered by their arms, and were 
compelled '' to this humiliating concession, as the 
only means of averting impending destruction." 
General William Henry Harrison, after a brief 
rehearsal of the tradition, and the efforts of Mr. 
Heckewelder to establish its truth, thus summari- 
ly and effectually disposes of the question : — ^'But 

* Loskiel's valuable history of the Moravian missions among tlic Amer- 
ican Indians, preserves an account of the negotiations between the Iro- 
quois and the Delawares resulting in the arrangement, in detail — giving 
the preliminary message from the former at length. The Delawares say 
that immediately after they had submitted to be called ?ro7ncH, that tliey 
might, as peace-makers, prevent the entire destruction of the Indian race, 
the Iroquois appointed a great feast,at which a solemn speech was delivered 
in the course of the attending ceremonies, containing three principal points. 
TJie first was a declaration that the Delawares were women, in the fol- 
owing words: — "We dress you in a woman's long habit, reaching 
down to your feet, and adorn you with ear-rings;" meaning that they 
should no more take up arms. The second point was thus expressed : — 
" We hang a calabash, filled with oil and medicines, upon your arm. 
With the oil you shall cleanse the ears of the other nations, that they may 
attend to good, and not to bad words ; and with the medicines you shall 
heal those wJio are walking in foolish ways, that they may return to tlicir 
senses, and incline their hearts to peace." The tliird point was a laconic 
exhortation to tlie pursuits of agriculture, thus :— " We deliver into your 
hands a plant of Indian corn and a hoe." 



96 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

even if Mr. Heckewelder had succeeded in mak- 
ing his readers beUeve that the Delawares, when 
they submitted to the degradation proposed to 
them by their enemies, w^ere influenced, not by 
fear, but by the benevolent desire to put a stop to 
the calamities of war, he has established for them 
the reputation of being the most egregious dupes 
and fools that the world has ever seen. This is 
not often the case with Indian sachems. They 
are rarely cowards, but still more rarely are they 
deficient in sagacity or discernment to detect any 
attempt to impose upon them. I sincerely wish I 
could unite with the worthy German, in remov- 
ing this stigma upon the Delawares. A long and 
intimate knowledge of them in peace and war, as 
enemies and friends, has left upon my mind the 
most favorable impressions of their character for 
bravery, generosity, and fidelity to their engage- 
ments."* 

* Discourse of Gen. William Henry Harrison, on the Aborigines of the 
Valley of the Ohio. 



CHAPTER III. 

Arrival of the Delawares at Wyoming— The Nanticokes— The Moravian 
Missions — Count Zinzendorf— The Assassins and the Rattle-snake — 
French and Indian relations — The Grass-hopper War — Shavvanese ilce 
from Wyoming to the Ohio — Teedyuscung chosen chief of the Delawares 
— Removes to Wyoming— Massacre at Gnadenhutten — Shawanese and 
Delawares join the French — Interposition of the Quakers for the resto- 
ration of peace— Indian Council at Easton— Speech of Teedyuscung— 
Story of Weekquehela— Treaty of peace with Teedyuscung— The em- 
bassies of Christian Frederick Post— Efforts of Sir William Johnson- 
Equivocal conduct of the Six Nations— Mistake of the French— General 
Peace with tlie Indians. 

The removal of the Delawares from the Forks 
to Wyoming was as speedy as the order to that 
end had been peremptory. It has been stated in 
a preceding page, that some years before the Wy- 
oming Valley had been allotted, by the Delawares, 
to a strong clan of the Shawanese.^ These latter 
had planted themselves upon the flats on the west 
bank of the river ; and on their arrival at the same 
place, the Delawares selected, as the site of the 
town they were to build, the beautiful plain on the 

* In his account of Zinzendorfs visit to " Wajomick" Loskiel states 
that "the Shavvanese had been invited tliither by the Iroquois, with a view 
to protect the silver mines said to be in tlie neighborhood, from the White 
people." No other author lias noted this tradition, nor have the silver 
mines yet been discovered. 
II 



98 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

eastern side, nearly or quite opposite to the Shaw- 
anese town, a short distance only below the present 
borough of Wilkesbarre. Here was built the town 
of Maugh-wau-wa-me ; the original of Wyoming. 
Meantime the Nanticoke Indians had removed 
from the eastern shore of Maryland to the lower 
part of the Wyoming Valley, which yet retains 
their name. " Nanticoke Falls" is a rapid on the 
Susquehanna, almost precipitous at one place, 
where the river forces its passage through a nar- 
row gorge of the mountains, and escapes from the 
beautiful valley in which it had been lingering for 
upward of twenty miles, into a region wild w^th 
rock and glen. The Shawanese made no opposi- 
tion to the arrival of their new neighbors. In- 
deed both clans were but tenants at will to the Six 
Nations, and for a season they lived upon terms 
sufficiently amicable. 

It was during the same year that the soil of 
Wyoming was first trodden by the feet of a mis- 
sionary of the Christian religion. The Moravians, 
or " United Brethren," had commenced their mis- 
sions in the new world several years before, — in 
Georgia as early as 1734. Their benevolent la- 
bors were extended to Pennsylvania and New- 
York six years afterward. In 1742, their great 
founder and apostle, Count Zinzendorf, visited 
America, to look after their infant missions. He 
arrived at Bethlehem, near the Forks of the Dela- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 99 

ware, in the following year. Affecting represen- 
tations of the deplorable moral condition of the In- 
dians had reached the count before he left Ger- 
many, and his attention was early directed to their 
situation, and their wants, while visiting the mis- 
sionary stations along the Delaware. He made 
several journies among the Indians deeper in the 
interior, and succeeded without difRculty in esta- 
blishing a friendly intercourse with various tribes. 
In one of these journies he plunged through the 
wilderness into the valley of Wyoming, for the 
purpose of establishing a missionary post in the 
town of the Shawanese. It was here, during the 
autumn of that year, that one of those beautiful 
and touching incidents occurred, which add a 
charm to the annals of the missionary enterprise. 

The count had expected to be accompanied 'by 
an interpreter, celebrated in all the Indian nego- 
tiations for many years of that age, named Con- 
rad Weiser, whose popularity was equally great 
among the Indians of all nations by whom he was 
known. But Weiser was unable to go. Inflexi- 
ble in his purpose, however, the count determined 
to encounter the hazards of the journey, with no 
other companions than a missionary, named Mack, 
and his wife. On their arrival in the valley, they 
pitched their tents on the bank of the river, a short 
distance below the town of the Shaw^anese ; at that 
period the most distrustful and savage of the Penn- 



100 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

sylvania Indians. A council was called to hear 
their errand of mercy, but the Indians were not 
exactly satisfied as to the real object of such an 
unexpected visit. They knew the rapacity of the 
white people for their lands ; and they thought it 
far more probable that the strangers were bent 
upon surveying the quality of these, than that they 
w^ere encountering so many hardships and dangers, 
without fee or reward, merely for the future well 
being of their souls. Brooding darkly upon the 
subject, their suspicions increased, until they re- 
solved upon the assassination of the count ; for 
which purpose executioners were detailed, who 
were instructed to carry their purpose into effect 
with all possible secrecy, lest the transaction, com- 
ing to the ears of the English, should involve them 
in a yet graver difficulty. 

The count was alone in his tent, reclining upon 
a bundle of dry weeds, designed for his bed, and 
engaged in writing, or in devout meditation, when 
the assassins crept stealthily to the tent upon their 
murderous errand. A blanket-curtain, suspended 
upon pins, formed the door of his tent, and by 
gently raising a corner of the curtain, the Indians, 
undiscovered, had a full view of the venerable 
patriarch, unconscious of lurking danger, and with 
the calmness of a saint upon his benignant features. 
They were awe-stricken by his appearance. But 
this was not all. It was a cool night in Septem- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 101 

ber and the count had kindled a small fire for his 
comfort. Warmed by the flame, a large rattle- 
snake had crept from its covert, and approaching 
the fire for its greater enjoyment, glided harm- 
lessly over one of the legs of the holy man, whose 
thoughts, at the moment, were not occupied upon 
the grovelling things of earth. He perceived not 
the serpent, but the Indians, with breathless atten- 
tion, had observed the whole movement of the poi- 
sonous reptile ; and as they gazed upon the aspect 
and attitude of the count, and saw the serpent of- 
fering him no harm, they changed their minds as 
suddenly as the barbarians of Malta did theirs in 
regard to the shipwrecked prisoner who shook the 
viper from his hand without feeling even a smart 
from its venomous fang. Their enmity was im- 
mediately changed into reverence ; and in the be- 
lief that their intended victim enjoyed the special 
protection of the Great Spirit, they desisted from 
their bloody purpose and retired.* Thenceforward 
the count was regarded by the Indians with the 
most profound veneration. The arrival of Conrad 
Weiser soon afterward afforded every facility for 
free communication with the sons of the forest, 

* This interesting incident was not published in the count's memoirs, 
lest, as he stales, the world shoiild think that the conversions that fol- 
lowed among the Indians were attributable to their superstitions. Mr. 
Chapman, in his History of Wyoming, has preserved the story — having, 
as he says, received it from one who was a companion of the count, and 
who accompanied him, [the author] to Wyoming. 
11* 



102 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

and the count remained among them twenty days. 
Some time afterward several of the Moravian 
brethren visited the valley and formed an agreeable 
acquaintance with the Indians, especially with the 
chiefs of the Nantikoke tribe, one of whom, eighty- 
seven years old, was a remarkably intelligent man.* 
The result was the establishment of a regular mis- 
sion post there, which was successfully maintained 
for several years, and until broken up by troubles 
as extraordinary in their origin as they were fatal 
to the Indians engaged in them. 

The treaty of Aix-la Chapelle, which in 1748 
put an end to the French war in Europe, proved 
to be only a truce between France and Great 
Britain ; and from the movements of the former, 
it required no remarkable degree of sagacity to 
foresee that the sword would soon be drawn again, 
and the contest chiefly waged, and perhaps de- 
cided, in the wild woods of America. It was 
even so. The storm broke forth upon the banks 
of the Ohio in 17f>4, and was ended on those of 
the St. Lawrence in 1763. Preparatory to this 
contest, the arts of the French, and their Jesuit 
missionaries, were all put in requisition to secure 
the friendship and alliance of the Indians. The 
influence of the Jesuits, among the Indians of the 
Ohio and upper lakes, was unbounded : and the 

* Loskiel. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 103 

Shawanese of the Ohio, always haters of the Eng- 
hsh, were easily persuaded to take up the hatchet 
at the first sound of the bugle. In anticipation of 
hostilities, they early invited their brethren, settled 
in the valley of Wyoming, to join them. These 
latter were little better disposed towards the Eng- 
lish than their brethren deeper in the woods ; and 
but for the new ties that bound the Moravian con- 
verts to their church, the invitation would have 
been promptly accepted. 

It was not long, however, before an incident oc- 
curred, which not only sundered their Christian 
relations, but facilitated the removal of all who 
were able to get away. This incident was a 
sudden out-break of hostilities between this seclu- 
ded clan of the Shawanese, and their Delaware 
neighbors on the other side of the river, the im- 
mediate cause of which was the most trivial that 
can be imagined ; in this respect without its paral- 
lel in history, unless such parallel is to be found 
in the celebrated controversy betw^een the virulent 
factions of the Prasini and the Veniti, in Italy, 
which began by a distinction of colors in ribands.* 
Its consequences, too, were the most bloody, for 
the numbers engaged, of any war, probably, that 
was ever waged. It happened thus : — On a cer- 
tain day, the warriors of both clans being engaged 

* Vide Dean Swift's " Argument against abolishing Christianity." 



104 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

in the chase upon the mountains, a party of the 
Shawanese women and children crossed to the 
Delaware side to gather wild fruit. In this occu- 
pation they were joined by some of the Delaware 
squaws, with their children. In the course of the 
day, the harmony of the children was interrupted 
by a dispute respecting the possession of a large 
grasshopper, probably with parti-colored wings. 
A quarrel ensued, in which the mothers took part 
with their children respectively. The Delaware 
women being the most numerous, the Shawanese 
were driven home, several being killed upon both 
sides. On the return of their husbands from hunt- 
ing, the Shawanese instantly espoused the cause of 
their wives, and arming themselves, crossed the 
river to give the Delawares battle. The latter 
were not unprepared, and a battle ensued, which 
was long and obstinately contested, and which, af- 
ter great slaughter upon both sides, ended in the 
defeat of the Shawanese, and their expulsion from 
the valley. They retired among their more pow- 
erful brethren on the Ohio, by whom, as already 
mentioned, they had been invited to remove thith- 
er, with them to espouse the cause of the French. 
This exploit of the Delawares, becoming noised 
abroad, went far to relieve them of the reproach 
under which they had so long been lying, of be- 
ing " WOMEN."* They were now the principal 

* According to Loskiel, a treaty was negotiated between the Iroquois 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 105 

occupants of the valley — entirely so, indeed, with 
the exception of the small community of Nati- 
cokes who were settled at its lower extremity — 
and their numbers were rapidly increased by those 
of their own people who w^^re retreating before 
the onward march of civilization in the Minisink 
country of the Delaware. Among these acces- 
sions to their community were many from the vi- 
cinity of Friedhenshal, Bethlehem, Guadhenthal, 
Nazareth, Nain, and Gnadenhutten,* the Mora- 
vian settlements in the region of the junction, or 
Forks, of the Delaware and Lehigh. Some of 
them were converts to the Moravian church ; and 
a constant intercourse was thereafter maintained 
by way of what is to this day known as the " In- 
dian Walk " across the mountains, between the In- 
dians living at and in the vicinity of Gnadenhut- 
ten, and those of Wyoming, As the storm of war 
with the French drew near, the Indians in their in- 
terest began to hover upon the borders of the white 
settlements, and particularly upon those of the 
Delaware tribes, which yet adhered to the inter- 
ests of the English. The Delaware chief at Wy- 

and the Delawares in 1755, when the former were soliciting the assistance 
of the latter, by which the woman's dress of the Delaware nation was 
shortened so as to reach only to their knees, and a hatchet was given into 
their hands by way of defence. 

* " Huts of Mercy," a settlement founded by the Moravians chiefly for 
the accommodation and protection of those Indians who embraced their 
faith. 



106 HISTORY OF WYOMING. ^ 

oming was Tadame, of whom, at this day, but Ht- 
tle is known. He w^as however treacherously mur- 
dered by some of the hostile Indians from the 
northwest ; whereupon a general council of the 
Delawares was convened, and Teedyuscung, of 
whom mention has already been made, was cho- 
sen chief sachem, and duly proclaimed as such. 
He was residing at Gnadenhutten at the time of 
his advancement, but immediately removed to Wy- 
oming, which then became the principal seat of the 
Delawares. Not long afterward a small fort upon 
the Lehigh, in the neighborhood of Gnadenhut- 
ten, was surprised by a party of Indians, and white 
men disguised as such, its little garrison massacred, 
the town of Gnadenhutten sacked and burnt, — 
many of its inhabitants, chiefly Christian Indians, 
being slain. Numbers of them perished in the 
flames, while the survivors escaped and joined their 
brethren at Wyoming.* 

It was not long after the actual commencement 
of hostilities between the English colonists and the 
French troops, and their Indian allies upon the 

* Chapman, It was at about this period of time, according to the same 
author, that the Nanticokes, never particularly friendly to the English, re- 
moved from Wyoming farther up the river to a place called Chemunk 
[Chemung?] After this removal, hearing that the graves of their fath- 
ers, on the eastern shore of Maryland, were about being invaded by the 
plough-shares of the pale-faces, they sent a deputation bade to their na- 
tive land, who disinterred the remains of their dead, and conveyed them 
to their new place of residence, where they were again buried with all 
{he rites and ceremonies of savage sepulture. This is a beautiful instance 
of filial piety, deserving of remembrance. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING 107 

banks of the Ohio, before Shamokin was attacked 
by the Indians, and the white settlement destroy- 
ed. Fourteen whites were killed, several made 
prisoners, and the houses and farms plundered. 
The Delawares now began to waver under the 
smarting of ancient grievances, and the artful ap- 
pliances and appeals of the French ; and with the 
fall of General Braddock and the destruction of 
his army, they revolted in a body, and went over 
to the common enemy. They were immediately 
induced to change their relations, by the strong 
assurances of the French that the war was in fact 
undertaken in their behalf, for the purpose of driv- 
ing away the English, and restoring the red man 
once more to the full and entire possession of the 
country of which he had been robbed.* 

A sanguinary war, upon the borders both of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, immediately follow^ed 
the secession of the Delawares, and if they were 
'' women," in the popular Indian acceptation, be- 
fore, they wielded no feminine arms in the new 
attitude they had so suddenly assumed. Their 
blows fell thick and fast ; their hatchets were red ; 
and their devastations of the frontier settlements 
were frequent and cruel. Governor Morris wrote 
to General Shirley on the 3d of December, 1755, 

* Chapman. See, also, an interesting journal of Christian Frederick 
Post, while on a pacific mission to the Delawares and Shawanese, which 
has been preserved in the appendix to Proud. 



lOS HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

— '' to our great surprise the Dela wares and Shaw- 
anese have taken up the hatchet against us, and 
with uncommon rage and fury carried on a most 
barbarous and cruel war, burning and destroying 
all before them, and in a short space of time have 
been able to lay waste a considerable tract of coun- 
try, extending a vast length from beyond the Ap- 
alaccian Hills in Virginia, to the river Delaware, 
and it may be expected that they will next fall 
on Jersey, and perhaps New-York, as they follow 
the chain of mountains that we call the Blue Hills, 
which take their rise in New-England."* The 
storm was as fearful as it was unexpected to the 
Pennsylvanians ; for however much familiarized 
Virsfinia and most of the other colonies had be- 
come to savage v/arfare, Pennsylvania, until now, 
had been comparatively and happily exempt. For 
more than seventy years a strict amity had existed 
between the early English settlers and their suc- 
cessors in Pennsylvania and New-Jerse7,f and the 
breaking forth of the war created the greater con- 
sternation on that account. 

It appears that the Quakers, — a people, by the 
way, who have at all times manifested a deep so- 
licitude for the welfare of the Indians, and whose 
benevolent principles and gentle manners have, 

*MS. letter from Robert IT. Morris, Governor of Pennsylvania, to Gen- 
eral Shirley. 
t Proud. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 109 

in all critical emergencies, more than any thing 
else, won the red man's confidence, — had previ- 
ously discovered some uneasiness among the Indi- 
ans, connected with certain land questions, in re- 
spect of which they were not quite clear that 
injustice had not been done their red brethren of 
the forest. While, therefore, the government was 
making such preparations as it could for the com- 
mon defence, great and persevering efforts were 
made, under the urgent advisement of the Qua- 
kers, to win back the friendship of the Delawares, 
as also that of the Shawanese. It was the opin- 
ion of these good people, as just intimated, that 
in their revolt the Delawares had been moved by 
wrongs, either real or fancied, — and if the latter, 
not the less wrongs to their clouded apprehensions, 
— in regard to some of their lands. A pacific 
mission to the Delawares and Shawanese was 
therefore recommended and strongly urged by 
them, and the project was acceded to by Governor 
Morris ; but he refused to set the mission on foot 
until after he had issued a formal declaration of 
war.* The Quakers were strongly opposed to 
this measure, and so was Sir William Johnson, 
who judged that pacific relations might be more 
easily restored without resorting to a declar- 

* Memorial of the Quakers to Governor Denny, who had succeeded Mr, 
Morris in the government of the Proprietaries in 1756. See Proud, vol. ii. 
Appendix. 

12 



110 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ation, than afterward, and privately remonstrated 
against it.* Difficulties meantime increased, and 
the ravages of the frontiers were continued, until 
the war-path flowed with blood. Governor Mor- 
ris, in a letter to Sir William Johnson justifying 
his declaration, said : — " You cannot conceive what 
havoc has been made by the enemy in this defence- 
less province, nor what number of murders they 
have committed, what a vast tract of territory they 
have laid waste, and what a multitude of inhabit- 
ants, of all ages and both sexes, they have carried 
into captivity. By information of several of the 
prisoners who have made their escape from them, 
I can assure you that there are not less than three 
hundred of our people in servitude to them and 
the French on the Ohio. At first they appeared 
in small parties, and committed their outrages 
where they could do it with more safety to them- 
selves. But of late they have penetrated into the 
inhabited part of the country in larger bodies, and 
have defeated seveml detachments of our armed 
forces ; carried and laid waste whole counties, and 
spread great terror amongst us."f 

The influence of Sir William Johnson and of the 
Six Nations, with the Delawares. was invoked by 
the Pennsylvanians, and several of the Chiefs of 
the confederacy, with Colonel Claus, and Andrew 

* Johnson MSS. in the author's possessionb 
I MS. letter among the Johnson papers^ 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. Ill 

Montour, Sir William's secretary and interpreter, 
visited Philadelphia upon that business.* The 
parent government likewise urged the representa- 
tives of the Proprietaries to renew their Indian 
negotiations, and if possible arrive at a better un- 
derstanding with them, by defining explicitly the 
lands that had been actually purchased.f 

These pacific dispositions were so far attended 
with success that two Indian councils were held at 
Easton, in the Summer and Autumn of 1756. 
The first, however, was so small, being attended 
by only twenty-four Indians, that no business was 
transacted other than the giving and receiving of 
explanations, and the adoption of such arrange- 
ments as it was hoped would lead to a pacific re- 
sult. The chief and master-spirit of the Indians 
was Teedyuscung, claiming to be king of the Del- 
awares, and being acknowledged by them as such. 
He was the bearer of a belt to the Delawares from 
the Six Nations, urging them to lay down the 
hatchet,{ and he claimed to represent ten nations 
in the council. From the information elicited at 

* Memorial of the Gluakers, already cited. f Chapman. 

I Strangely enough Loskiel asserts, repeatedly, that the Delawares and 
Shawanese had been instigated to these hostilities against the English by 
the Six Nations. The proof is conclusive, — rendered more conclusive than 
ever by the Johnson manuscripts, — that the Six Nations did all in their 
power to assist them, and afterward to aid in the restoration of peace. But 
the good Moravians always looked with an eye of strong partiality upon 
the Delawares, and with the opposite feeling upon the Six Nations. I 
have the manuscript journals of these councils before me at large — and they 
are long and full. 



112 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

this council, it appeared that Teedyuscung had 
been the chief agent in exciting the Delawares and 
Shawanese to hostihties, and that he had but re- 
cently returned from a visit to the French garrison 
at Niagara, at which place he had been treated 
with marked attention. Still, in reference to the 
pacific messages by which he had been invited to 
the council, he declared " that they had touched 
his heart, and given him abundance of joy." The 
discussions were continued several days, in the 
most amicable spirit, and an arrangement was 
made by virtue of which Teedyuscung was to vis- 
it the remote hostile Indians, and bring them in 
greater numbers to attend a council to be held in 
the approaching Autumn. He was not as suc- 
cessful in his eflbrts to induce the Indians to meet 
in the proposed council,as it was hoped he would be, 
yet it took place in November, although it appears 
to have been confined to the Delawares of the Sus- 
quehanna — those of that nation who had previous- 
ly emigrated to the Ohio, and the Shawanese, not 
being represented. The council was conducted 
by Lieutenant Governor Denny on the part of the 
colony, and by Teedyuscung on behalf of the In- 
dians ; and he appears to have managed his case 
wdth the energy of a man and the ability of a 
statesman. If his people had cowered like cravens 
before the rebukes of the Six Nations, in the coun- 
cil of 1742, their demeanor was far otherwise on 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 113 

this occasion.* Having, by joining the Shawanese 
and the French, thrown off the vassalage of the 
Six Nations, and become an independent, as well 
as a belligerent power, they now met the pale fa- 
ces, and a deputation of the Six Nations who were 
present, with the port and bearing of men. 

On being requested by the Governor to state the 
causes of their uneasiness and subsequent hostili- 
ties, Teedyuscung enumerated several. Among 
them were the abuses committed upon the Indians 
in the prosecution of their trade ; being unjustly 
deprived of portions of their lands ; and in the ex- 
ecution, long before, in New-Jersey, of a Delaware 
chief, named Wekahelah, for, as the Indians al- 
leged, accidentally killing a white man — a trans- 
action which they said they could not forget.f 

* At this council, Teedyuscung insisted upon having a secretary of his 
own selection appointed, to take down the proceedings in behalf of the 
Indians. The demand was considered extraordinary, and was opposed 
by Li'overnor Denny. The Delaware chief, however, persisted in his de- 
mand, and it was finally acceded to. Teedyuscung therefore appointed 
Charles Thompson, Master of the Free Quaker School in Philadeli)hia, as 
the secretary for the Indians. This was the same Charles Thompson who 
was afterwards secretary to the Old Congress of the revolution — who was 
so long continued in that station — and who died in the year 1824, aged 94 
years — full of years and honors. The Indians adopted him a»d, gave hira 
a name signifying — "The Man of Truth." 

f Weekweela, Wekahela, or Weekquehela, was an Indian of great con- 
sideration, both among the Christian and Pagan Indians. He resided, with 
his clan, upon South river, near Shrewsbury, in Last Jersey, and lived 
in a style corresponding with that of affluent white men. He had a large 
farm, which was well cultivated and stocked with cattle and horses : his 
house w^as large, and furnished after the English manner, with chairs, 
feather beds, curtains, &c., &c. He had also servants, and was the own- 
er of slaves. He likewise mingled with good society, and was the guest 

12* 



114 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

When the Governor desired specifications of the 
alleged wrongs in regard to their lands, Teedyus- 
cung replied : '' The Kings of England and France 
have settled or wrought this land so as to coop us 
up as if in a pen." — " I have not far to go for an- 
other instance. This very ground that is under 
me, (striking it with his foot,) was my land and 
inheritance ; and is taken from me by fraud. 
When I say this ground, I mean all the land ly- 
ing between Tohiccon Creek and Wyoming, on 
the river Susquehanna. I have not only been 
served so in this government, but the same thing 
has been done to me as to several tracts in New- 
Jersey, over the river." When asked what he 
meant hy fraud, Teedyuscung replied: — '' When 
one man had formerly liberty to purchase land, 
and he took the deeds from the Indians, and then 
dies, and after his death his children forge a deed 
like the true one, with the same Indian names to 
it, and thereby take lands from the Indians which 

of governors and other distinguished men. Unfortunately, about the year 
1728, Captain John Leonard purchased a cedar swamp of some other Indi- 
ans, which Weekquehela claimed as belonging to him. Leonard disre- 
garded his claim, and persisted in occupying the land. A quarrel ensued, 
and Weekquehela shot him dead as a trespasser — not, however, upon the 
disputed territory, but while he was walking one day in his garden. The 
chief was arrested by the civil authorities, and tried and executed for mur- 
der at Amboy. Such is substantially the story as related in Smith's His- 
tory of New-Jersey. The Indians claimed that Weekquehela's gun went 
off by accident; and the Six Nations, in a speech delivered at Lancaster 
in the year 1757, not only affirmed this, but maintained that the Indian 
went himself and with great grief communicated the circumstance to the 
widow— surrendering himself up voluntarily to the civil authorities. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 115 

they never sold, this is fraud." '' Also, when one 
chief has land beyond the river, and another chief 
has land on this side, both bounded by rivers, 
mountains, and springs, which cannot be moved, 
and the Proprietaries, ready to purchase lands, buy 
of one chief what belongs to another. This like- 
wise is fraud." '' When I had agreed to sell cer- 
tain lands to the old proprietor by the course of 
the river, the young proprietors came and got it 
run by a straight course by the compass, and by 
that means took in double the quantity intended 
to be sold." This he thought was fraud. He 
said the Delawares had never been satisfied with 
the conduct of the latter since the treaties of 1737, 
when their fathers sold them the lands on the Del- 
aware. He said that although the land sold was 
to have gone only " as far as a man could go in a 
day and a half from Nashamony Creek,'^ yet the 
person who measured the ground did not walk, 
but ran. He was, moreover, as they supposed, to 
follow the winding bank of the river, whereas he 
went in a strai2:ht line. And because the Indians 
had been unwilling to give up the land as far as 
the walk extended, the Governor then having the 
command of the English sent for their cousins the 
Six Nations, who had always been hard masters 
to them, to come down and drive them from their 
land. When the Six Nations came down, the 
Delawares met them at a great treaty held at the 



116 HISTORY OF WYOMING. , 

Governor's house in Philadelphia, for the purpose 
of explaining why they did not give up the land ; 
but the English made so many presents to the Six 
Nations, that their ears were stopped. They would 
listen to no explanation ; and Canassateego had 
moreover abused them, and called them women. 
The Six Nations had, however, given to them and 
the Shawanese, the lands upon the Susquehanna 
and the Juniata for hunting grounds, and had so 
informed the Governor ; but notwithstanding this, 
the whites were allowed to go and settle upon 
those lands.* Two years ago, moreover, the Gov- 
ernor had been to Albany to buy some land of the 
Six Nations, and had described their purchase hy 
points of compass, which the Indians did not un- 
derstand, including lands both upon the Juniata 
and the Susquehanna, which they did not intend 
to sell. When all these things were known to the 
Indians, they declared they would no longer be 
friends to the English, who were trying to get all 
their country away from them. He however as- 

* In a speech delivered by one of the chiefs of I he Six Nations, at a coun- 
cil held with them at Lancaster, in 1757, this last assertion of Teedyus- 
cung was confirmed, as follows : — " Brothers : You desired us to open our 
hearts, and inform you of every thing we know, that might give rise to the 
quarrel between you and our nephews and brothers: — That, in former 
times our forefathers conquered the Delawares, and put petticoats on them ; 
a long time after that they lived among you, our brothers ; but upon some 
difference between you and them, we thought proper to remove them, 
giving them lands to plant and to hunt on, at Wyoming and Juniata, on the 
Susquehanna ; but you, covetous of land, made plantations there, and spoil- 
ed their hunting grounds; they then complained to us, and we looked 
over those lands, and found their complaints to be true." 



HISTORY OF WYOMIN^G. 117 

sured the council that they were nevertheless glad 
to meet their old friends the English again, and 
to smoke the pipe of peace with them. He also 
hoped that justice would be done to them for all 
the injuriet^ they had received."* 

The council continued nine days, and Governor 
Denny appears to have conducted himself with so 
much tact and judgment, as greatly to conciliate 
the good will of the Indians. By his candid and 
ingenuous treatment of them, as some of the 
Mohawks afterward expressed it, " he put his 
hand into Teedyuscung's bosom, and was so suc- 
cessful as to draw out the secret, which neither 
Sir William Johnson nor the Six Nations could 
do."f The result was a reconciliation of the Del- 
awares of the Susquehanna with the English, and 
a treaty of peace, upon the basis that Teedyuscung 
and his people were to be allowed to remain upon 
the Wyoming lands, and that houses were to be 
built for them by the Proprietaries.."]: There were, 
however, several matters left unadjusted, although 
the Governor desired that every difficulty siiould 
then be discussed, and every cause of complaint, 

*In the first edition of this work, I was indebted to Proud for an outline 
of this speech of the Delaware King ; but I have since discovered a man^ 
uscript journal of the entire proceedings of this council among tJie manu- 
scripts of Sir William Johnson. Chapman was in error in supposing it 
to have been a general council, and that the Ohio Indians were included 
in thf" peace. 

t Memorial of the duakers to Governor Denny. 

X Journal of Christian Frederick Post — note by Proud. 



118 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

as far as he possessed the power, be removed. But 
Teedyuscung rephed that he was not empowered, 
at the present time, to negotiate upon several of 
the questions of grievance that had been raised, 
nor were all the parties interested properly repre- 
sented in the council. He therefore proposed the 
holding of another council in the following spring, 
at Lancaster. This propositon was acceded to ; 
and many Indians collected at the time and place 
appointed. Sir William Johnson despatched a 
deputation of the Six Nations thither, under the 
charge of Colonel Croglian, the Deputy Superin- 
tendent of the Indians ; but for some reason un- 
explained, neither Teedyuscung nor the Dela- 
wares from Wyoming attended the council, 
though of his own appointment. Col. Croghan 
wrote to Sir William, however, that the meeting 
was productive of great good in checking the war 
upon the frontier ; and in a speech to Sir Wil- 
liam, delivered by the Senecas in June following, 
they claimed the credit, by their mediation, of the 
partial peace that had been obtained. The con- 
duct of Teedyuscung on that occasion was se- 
verely censured by Sir William, in a speech to 
the Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas ; and the 
latter were charged by the baronet to take the 
subject in hand, and " talk to him," and should 
they find him in fault, ''make him sensible of it."^ 

* Manuscripts of Sir William Johnson in the autlior's possession. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 119 

But the Delawares and the Shawanese of the 
Alleghany and Ohio were yet upon the war-path, 
and although the horrors of the border warfare 
weresomewhat mitigated by the peace with Teed- 
yuscung, they were by no means at an end. More 
especially were the frontiers of Virginia exposed 
to the invasions of the Siiawanese. Efforts for a 
more general pacification were therefore continued, 
under the auspices of the Quakers. Indeed these 
people, in whatever related to Indian affairs, form- 
ed almost an independent branch of the Penn- 
sylvania government. They enjoyed more of the 
confidence of the Indians than the officers of the 
government did ; especially of Teedyuscung ; and 
in their great solicitude to protect the red man's 
interests, they not unfrequently embarrassed the 
designs and proceedings of the governor.* But 
the French were strongly posted at Venango and 
Fort Du Quesne ; and they were assiduous and 
plausible in cultivating the friendship of the Indi- 
ans, and lavish in their presents. It was conse- 
quently a difficult matter to obtain access to the 
Indian towns thickly studding the more western 
rivers, or to induce the tribes to open their ears to 
any body but the French. 

A most fitting and worthy agent to bear a mes- 
sage of peace to those Indians, was, however, 

* MS. letters of Governor Denny to Sir William Johnson. 



120 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

found in the person of Christian Frederick Post. 
He was a plain, honest German, of the Moravian 
sect, who had resided seventeen years with the 
Indians, a part of which period had been passed 
in the valley of Wyoming, and he had twice mar- 
ried among them. He was therefore well ac- 
quainted with the Indian character, and was inti- 
mately known to many, both Shawanese and De- 
lawares, who had also resided at Wyoming. The 
service required of him was alike severe and 
arduous. A dreary wilderness was to be traversed, 
ravines threaded and mountains scaled ; and when 
these obstacles were surmounted, even if he did 
not meet with a stealthy enemy before, with his 
life in his hand he was to throw himself into the 
heart of an enemy's country — and that enemy as 
treacherous and cruel, when in a state of exasper- 
ation, as ever civilized man has been doomed to 
encounter. But Christian Frederick Post entered 
upon the perilous mission with the courage and 
spirit of a Christian. Accompanied by two or 
three Indian guides, he crossed the rivers and 
mountains twice in the summer and autumn of 
175S, visited many of the Indian towns, passed 
and repassed the French fort at Venango, and held 
a council with the Indians almost under the guns 
of Fort Du Quesne, where was a garrison, at that 
time, of about ten thousand men. Far the greater 
part of the Indians received him with friendship, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 121 

and his message of peace with gladness. They 
had such perfect confidence in his integrity and 
truth, that every effort of the French to circum- 
vent him was unavailing. They kept a captain 
and more than fifteen soldiers hanging about him 
for several days, watching liis every movement, 
and listening to all that was said ; and various 
schemes were devised at first to make him pris-' 
oner and ultimately to take his life ; but although 
one of his own guides had a '' forked tongue," 
and was seduced from him at fort Du Quesne, yet 
the Indians upon whom he had thrown himself, 
with so much confidence and moral courage, 
interposed for his counsel and protection in every 
case of danger, and would not allow a hair of his 
head to be injured. He was charged with messa^ 
ges both from Teedyuscung and Governor Denny. 
To the former they would not listen for a mo* 
ment. Indeed that chieftain seemed to be the ob*- 
ject of their strong dislike, if not of their positive 
hate. They would therefore recognize nothing 
that he had done at Easton ; but they received 
the message of the Governor with the best possible 
feeling. It was evident from all their conversa- 
tions with Christian Post, whose Journal is as art- 
less as it is interesting, that they had been deceived 
by the representations of the French, and deluded 
into a belief that, while it was the intention of the 

English to plunder them of all their lands, the 
13 



122 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

French were themselves actuated solely by the 
benevolent motive of driving the English back 
across the water, and restoring the Indians to all 
the possessions which the Great Spirit had given 
them."^ Convinced by Post of the fraud that had 
been practised upon their understandings, their 
yearnings for peace gathered intensity every day. 
Several times, during his conversations with the 
chiefs of different towns, as he undeceived them 
in regard to the real designs of the French, their 
minds seemed filled with melancholy perplexity. 
A conviction of what was not wide of the truth 
flashed upon them, and once at least, the apprehen- 
sion was uttered that it was but a struggle between 
the English and French, which should possess 
their whole country, after the Indians had been 
exterminated between them. " Why do not the 
great kings of England and France," they inquir- 
ed, '' do their fighting in their own country, and 

* In the course of the speech by one of the Six Nations, delivered at 
the Council at Lancaster in 1757, cited in a preceding note, it was said in 
reference to the influence which the French had acquired over the Dela- 
wares and Shawanese : " At this time our cousins the Delavvares carried 
on a correspon dence with the French; by which means the French became 
acquainted witli all the causes of complaint they had against you ; and as 
your people were daily incroaching their settlements, by these means you 
drove them back into the arms of the French ; and they took the advantage 
of spriting them up against you, by telling them, ' Children, you see, and 
we have often told you, how the Enn-lish, your brothers, would serve you. 
they plant all the country, and drive you back ; so that in a little time, you 
will have no land ; it is not so with us ; though we build trading-houses 
on your land, we do not plant it, we have our provisions from over the 
great water.' " 



HISTORY OF WY031ING. 123 

not come over the great waters to fight on our 
hunting grounds ?" The question was too deep 
for honest Christian Frederick Post to answer. 
However, the inchnation of the Indians was deci- 
dedly toward the Enghsh, and the result of his 
second embassy, in the autumn of 175S, after en- 
countering fresh difficulties and dangers, was a 
reconciliation with the Indians of the Ohio coun- 
try, in consequence of which the French were 
obliged to abandon the whole of that territory to 
General Forbes, after destroying with their own 
hands the strong fortress of Du Quesne. 

Great, however, as was the influence of Chris- 
tian Frederick Post with the western Delawares 
and Shawanese, he is by no means entitled to the 
entire credit of bringing about a peace. The ef- 
forts of Sir William Johnson were incessantly di- 
rected to the same end, and were not without 
their efiect. The fact was, the French were omit- 
ting no exertions to win the Six Nations from their 
alliance with the English. In this design they 
were partially successful, and the British Indian 
Superintendent, great as was his influence with 
the red men, had his hands full to prevent the 
mass of the Six Nations from deserting him, du- 
ring the years 1756 and 1757, and joining the 
French. True, the Mohawks, Oneidas and Tus- 
caroras maintained their allegiance to the British 
crown, and were not backward upon the war-path ; 



124 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

but the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, against 
the strongest remonstrances of Sir WilUam, de- 
clared themselves neutral ; while large numbers of 
the Senecas and Ca3'ugas actually took up the 
hatchet with the w^estern Indians, in alliance with 
the French.* 

The defection probably would have been great- 
er, but for circumstances that occurred at Fort 
Du Quesne, late in the year 1757, and in the be- 
ginning of the following year. These circum- 
stances, w^hich will be presently explained, w^hile 
they evinced the absence, for a time, of the usual 
tact and sagacity of the French, had admirably 
opened the w'ay for Christian Post's mission, also 
having the effect of at once relieving Sir William 
Johnson from his embarrassing position in regard 
to the equivocal attitude of three of the Six Na- 
tions. It has been seen that Sir William had in- 
terposed, not only directly but through the means 
of some of his Indians, in producing the partial 
peace with the Delawares and Teedyuscung. The 
baronet had also succeeded in forming an alliance 
with the Cherokees, some of whom had gone upon 
tlie war-path in the neighborhood of Fort Du 
Quesne. These were now likewise exerting them- 
selves to detach the w^estern Indians, as far as 
might be, from the French.! 

It was in this posture of affairs that, late in the 

* MSS. of SirWilliam Johpson. f Idem. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING 125 

year 1757, a war-party of the Twightwees, (Mi- 
amies,) in a frolic close by the fortress of Du 
Quesne, killed a number of the cattle belonging 
to the French trooj)s in the fort. In a moment 
of exasperation, without pausing to reflect upon 
the consequences, the French fired upon the ag- 
gressors, and killed some ten or twelve of their 
number. The Twightwees were deeply incensed 
at this outrage, and the western Indians sympa- 
thized with them at the loss of their braves. It 
was not long, probably, before their resolution was 
taken, not only to withdraw from the French ser- 
vice, but to avenge the untimely fall of their war- 
riors.* 

While the Twightwees were thus brooding over 
this wrong, the Delawares intercepted a French 
despatch, in which the project was proposed and 
discussed, of cutting off and utterly exterminating 
the Six Nations — forming, as they did, so strong a 
barrier between the French and English colonies. 
The Indians found some one among themselves 
to read the document, and they no sooner under- 
stood its full purport than they repaired to the 
fortress in a body, and charged the project home 
upon the commander. That officer was either 
confused, or he attempted to dissemble. He like-. 

* MSS. of Sir William Johnson. 

13* 



126 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

wise tried, but without success, to obtain the doc- 
ument from them. They kept it, and its con- 
tents were the occasion of wide-spread consterna- 
tion among the Indians. But this is not all. In 
March, 1758, a deputation of the Senecas waited 
upon Sir William Johnson, with a message from 
the Delawares, the purport of which was, that the 
French had recently convened a great council of 
the north-western Indians at Detroit, at which the 
same project of exterminating the Six Nations 
was proposed and discussed. The pretext urged 
upon them by the French was, that the Six Nations 
were wrongfully claiming the territory of their 
western brethren, and were they to be crushed and 
extinguished, there would be no more difficulty 
upon the subject. The western Indians would 
come into the full enjoyment of their own again, 
without question as to jurisdiction. They there- 
fore proposed that all the Indians should join them 
" in cutting off the Six Nations from the face of 
the earth." This proposition starded the Dela- 
wares, who, after the council, determined to ap- 
prize the Senecas of the plot, and send to them the 
hatchet which they had recieved from the French 
to use against the English. They desired the Sen- 
ecas to keep the hatchet for them, as they were 
determined not to use it again, unless by direction 
of their cousins. Having received the message 
and the hatchet, the Senecas called a council to 



HISTORY OF WyOMINO. 127 

deliberate upon the subject. The hatchet they 
had resolved to throw into deep water, where it 
could not be found in three centuries, and they 
now came to Sir William with the information, 
and for counsel. It was a favorable moment for 
the baronet, and the opportunity was not suffered 
to pass unimproved. It so happened that the in- 
formation was in full confirmation of the predic- 
tions which Sir AVilliam had many times uttered 
to the Indians, in his efforts to prevent any friend- 
ly intercourse between them and the French. 
These predictions the Senecas, in their present 
troubles, remembered with lively impressions of 
the baronet's sagacity ; and the result of the in- 
terview was an entire alienation of the Senecas 
and Cayugas from the French.* 

On the 19th of April following, the Shawanese 
and Delawares of Ohio sent a message of peace 
to Sir William. A council of the Mohawks was 
immediately convened, at the suggestion of the 
baronet, and it was determined, in the event of 
war, that the Shawanese and Delawares should 
once more find an asylum from the French at Ve- 
nango and Fort Du Quesne in the valley of Wy- 
oming. But the evacuation, by the French, of the 
Ohio country, soon afterward, as already mention- 
ed, rendered no such formal removal necessary .f 
Meantime another and much larger council was 

* MSS. of Sir William Johnson. t Idem. 



123 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

holden at Easton, late in the autumn of 175S, at 
which all the Six Nations, and most of the Dela- 
ware tribes, the Shawanese, the Miamies and 
some of the Mohickanders were represented. The 
number of Indians assembled was about five hun- 
dred. Sir William Johnson was present, and the 
governments of Pennsvlvania and New-Jersey 
were likewise represented. Teedyuscung assumed 
a conspicuous position as a conductor of the dis- 
cussions, at which the Six Nations were disposed 
for a time to be oirended — reviving again tlieir 
claim of superiority. But the Delaware chief was 
not in a humor to yield tlie distinction he had 
already acquired, and he sustained himself through- 
out with eloquence and dignity.* 

Tlie object of this treaty was chiefly the adjust- 
ment of boundaries, and to extend and brighten 
the chain of friendship, not only between the In- 
dians themselves, but between their nations col- 
lectively and the whites. It was a convention of 
much harmony toward the close, and after nine- 
teen days' sittings, every difficulty being adjusted, 
they separated with great cordiality and good 
will.f 

* Clmpinan. 

t There was yet another council of the Indians held at Easton, in 1761, 
in which Teedynscun? took an active and eloquent part. He was dissat- 
isfied at Wyoming, although the government of Pennsylvania appear to 
have fulfilled th^ir contract to build houses for the Indians, at considerable 
expense. Teedyuscung, however, tiireatencd to leave the place, against 
which resolution he was strongly urged. The proceedings of this coun- 
cil, at length, are among Sir William Johnson's manuscripts. The re- 
sults were of but little importance. 



CIIAPTEli IV. 

Indefinite grants of lands by tJie Crown, — Early claim of Connecticut to 
western lands, — Conflicting grants,— Organization of the Susquehanna 
Company, — Project of coluiiiziiig Wyoming. Objections of the Penn- 
sylvanians, — Conflicting purchases of llie Indians, — First attempt to 
colonize Wyoming, — Frustrated by the Indian Wars, — Resumed in 17G2, 
— First arrival of settlers, — Friendship witli the Indians, — Return to 
Connecticut for the winter, — Opposition of tlie Proprietaries, — Removal 
with their families, — Treacherous assassination of Teedyuscung, — First 
Massacre at Wyoming, — Flight of the survivors, — Case of Mr. Hopkins, 
— Expedition against the Indians, — Their departure from the valley, — 
Massacre of the Conestogoe Indians by the Paxtang zealots, — Disgrace- 
ful proceedings that ensued, — Moravian Inditms settle in Wyalusing, — 
Remove to Ohio. 

Events of a different character now crowd up- 
on the attention. "The first grants of lands in 
America, by the crown of Great Britian, were 
made with a lavishncss which can exist only where 
acquisitions are without cost, and their value un- 
known ; and witli a want of provision in regard to 
boundaries which could result only from entire 
ignorance of the country. The charters of the 
great Western and Southern Virginia Companies, 
and of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and 
Connecticut, were of this liberal and uncertain 
character. The charter of the Plymouth Compa- 
ny covered the expanse from the fortieth to the 



130 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



forty-sixth degree of Northern latitude, extend- 
ing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.' ^* 
This charter was granted by King James I., 
under the great seal of England, in the most 
ample manner, on the 3d of November, 1620, 
to the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Buck- 
ingham, the Earls of Arundel and Warwick 
and their associates, " for the planting, ruling, 
ordering, and governing of New-England, in 
America." The charter of Connecticut was 
derived from the Plymouth Company, of which 
the Earl of Warwick was President. This grant 
was made in March, 1621, to Viscount Say and 
Seal, Lord Brook, and their associates. It was 
made in the most ample form, and also covered 
the country west of Connecticut, to the extent of 
its breadth, being about one degree of latitude, 
from sea to sea.f This grant was confirmed by 
the King in the course of the same year, and again 
in 1662. New- York, or, to speak more correctly 
in reference to that period, the New-Netherlands, 
being then a Dutch possession, could not be claim- 
ed as a portion of these munificent grants, if for 



* Gordon's History of Pennsylvania. 

t Trumbull's History of Connecticut. Colonel Timothy Pickering, in 
a letter to his son, giving the particulars of the highhanded outrage com- 
mitted upon him in Wyoming, in 1788, In speaking of these grants, re- 
marks : — "It seems natural to suppose by the terms of these grants, ex- 
tending to the western ocean, that in early times the continent was con- 
ceived to be of comparatively little breadth." 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 131 

no other reason, for the very good and substantial 
one that in the grant to the Plymouth Company an 
exception was made of all such portions of the ter- 
ritory as were '• then actually possessed or inhabit- 
ed by any other Christian prince or State." But 
the round phraseology of the charters opened the 
door sufficiently wide for any subsequent claims, 
within the specified parallels of latitude, which 
the company, or its successors, might afterward 
find it either convenient or politic to interpose. 
And it appears that even at the early date of 1651, 
some of the people of Connecticut were already 
casting longing eyes upon a section of the valley 
of the Delaware. It w\is represented by these en- 
terprizing men that they had purchased the lands 
in question from the Indians, but that the Dutch 
had interposed obstacles to their settlement there- 
on. In reply to their petition, the commissioners 
of the United Colonies asserted their right to the 
jurisdiction of the territory claimed upon the Del- 
aware, and the validity of the purchases that had 
been made by individuals. " They protested 
against the conduct of the Dutch, and assured 
the petitioners that though the season was not 
meet for hostilities, yet if within twelve months, 
at their own charge, they should transport to the 
Delaware one hundred armed men, with vessels 
and ammunition approved by the magistrates of 
New-Haven, and should be opposed by the Dutch, 



132 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

they should be assisted by as many soldiers as the 
commissioners might judge meet; the lands and 
trade of the settlement being charged with the ex- 
pense, and continuing under the government of 
New-Haven."* The project, however, was not 
pressed during the designated period, nor indeed 
does it seem to have been revived for more than a 
century afterward. Many changes of political 
and other relations had occurred during this long 
lapse of time. Disputes had arisen between the 
people of Connecticut and the New Netherlands 
in regard to boundaries, which had been adjusted 
by negociation and compromise. The colony 
of New Netherlands had moreover fallen, by 
the fortunes of war, under the sway of the 
British crown. The colonies of New Jersey 
and Pennsylvania had also been planted. Va- 
rious additional grants had been given by the 
crown, and other questions of territorial limits 
had been raised and adjusted. But in none 
of these transactions had Connecticut relinquished 
her claims of jurisdiction, and the pre-emptive 
right to the lands of the Indians, lying beyond 
New- York, and north of the fortieth degree of 
latitude, as defined in the original grant to the 

* This quotation is from Gordon. Colonel Pickering, in the letter al- 
ready cited in a preceding note, addressed to his son, and privately printed 
for the use of his own family only, supposed that Connecticut did not set 
up any formal claim to lands west of New-York and New-Jersey, until 
just prior to the revolution. He was in error. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 133 

Plymouth Company. The grant of this Compa- 
ny to Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brook had 
been made fifty years before the grant of the crown 
to William Penn, and the confirmation of that 
grant to Connecticut by royal charter, nineteen 
years prior to that conveyance.* Unfortunately, 
moreover, from the laxity that prevailed among 
the advisers of the crown, in the granting of pa- 
tents, as to boundaries, the patent to William Penn 
covered a portion of the grant to Connecticut, 
equal to one degree of latitude and five of longi- 
tude ; and within this territory, thus covered by 
double grants, was situated the section of the Del 
aware country heretofore spoken of :f as also the 
yet richer and more inviting valley of W yoming, 
toward which some of the more restless if not en- 
terprizing sons of the Pilgrims were already turn- 
ing their eyes with impatience. Hence the diffi- 
culties, and feuds, and civil conflicts, an account 
of which will form the residue of the present and 
the succeeding chapter. 

The project of establishing a colony in Wyo- 
ming >vas started by sundry individuals in Con- 
necticut in 1753, during which year an association 
was formed for that purpose, called the Susque- 

* Trumbull. 

t The specific claim of the Delaware Company, was to the lands be- 
tween the ranges of the north and south lines of Connecticut, westward 
by the Delaware river, to within ten miles of the Susquehanna. 

14 



134 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

hanna Company, and a number of agents were 
commissioned to proceed thither, explore the coun- 
try, and concihate the good will of the Indians. 
This commission was executed ; and as the valley, 
though at that time in the occupancy of the Del- 
awares, was claimed by the Six Nations, a pur- 
chase of that Confederacy was determined upon. 
To this end, a deputation of the company, the as- 
sociates of which already numbered about six hun- 
dred persons embracing many gentlemen of wealth 
and character, was directed to repair to Albany, 
where a great Indian Council was to be assembled 
in 1754, and if possible to effect the purchase. 
Their movements were not invested with secrecy, 
and the Governor of Pennsylvania, — James Ham- 
ilton, — ^becoming acquainted with them, was not 
slow in interposing objections to the procedure — 
claiming the lands as falling Avithin the charter of 
Penn, and of course belonging, the pre-emptive 
right at least, to the Proprietaries for whom he was 
administering the government. Hamilton wrote 
to Governor Wolcott upon the subject, protesting 
strongly against the designs of the company. To 
this letter Wolcott replied, that the projectors of 
the enterprise supposed the lands in question were 
not comprised within the grant to William Penn ; 
but should it appear that they were, the Governor 
thought there would be no disposition to quarrel 
upon the subject. Governor Hamilton also ad- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING 135 

dressed General (afterward Sir William) Johnson 
in relation to the matter, praying his interposition 
to prevent the Six nations from making any sales 
to the agents of the Connecticut Company, should 
they appear at Albany for that purpose ; and from 
the letters and other manuscripts preserved among 
the papers of the baronet, yet extant, it is certain 
that he entered fully into the views of the govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania, then and afterward doing 
all in his power to thwart the Connecticut en- 
terprize. 

But these precautionary measures on the part 
of Hamilton did not defeat the object of the Con- 
necticut Company, although a strong deputation 
to that end was sent from Pennsylvania to Albany.* 
A purchase was made by the Connecticut agents, 
of a tract of land extending about seventy miles 
north and south, and form a parallel line ten miles 
east of the Susquehanna, westward two degrees of 
longitude. f This purchase included the whole 
valley of Wyoming, and the country westward to 
the sources of the Alleghany.]: The Pennsylvania 

* The Delegates from Connecticut were, William Pitkin, Roger Wolcott, 
and Elisha Williams. Those from Pennsylvania were, John and Richard 
Penn, Isaac Norris, and Benjamin Franklin. 

I Trumbull. Since the publication of the first edition of the present 
work, I have obtained the Deed of this purchase, which will be found in 
the appendix, containing the names of all the parties to the contract. 

I Chapman. Another association was subsequently formed in Connec- 
ticut, called the Delaware Company, which purchased the land of the Indi- 
ans, east of the Wyoming tract, to the Delaware river. This company 
commenced a settlement on the Delaware at a place called Coshutunk in 



136 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

delegates did all in their power to circumvent the 
agents of the Susquehanna Company, holding sev- 
eral private councils with the chiefs of the Six Na- 
tions, and endeavoring to purchase the same lands 
themselves. In the course of their consultations, 
Hendrick, the last of the Mohawk kings,* think- 
ing tliat some reflection had been cast upon his 
character, became excited, and declared that nei- 
ther of the parties should have the land. But the 
Connecticut agents succeeded, as already stated, 
and the Pennsylvanians also eflfected the purchase 
of " a tract of land between the Blue Mountains 
and the forks of the Susquehanna river."f Strong 
efforts were subsequently made by the Pennsylva- 
nia government, aided by the influence of General 
Johnson, to induce the Indians to revoke the sale 
to the Susquehanna Company, and Hendrick was 
prevailed upon by Johnson to make a visit to Phil- 
adelphia upon that business. And injustice to the 
Pennsylvanians it must be allowed, that they al- 
ways protested against the legality of this purchase 
by their rivals — alleging that the bargain was not 
made in open council, that it was the work of a 
few of the chiefs only, and that several of them 
were in a state of intoxication when they signed 

1757, whicli was the first settlement founded by tlie people of Connecticut 
within the territory claimed by them west of New-York. 

* He fell, bravely fighting under General Johnson, in the battle of Lake 
George, the following year. 

t Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 137 

the deed of conveyance.* It is farthermore true 
that in 1736 the Six Nations had sold to the Pro- 
prietaries the lands upon both sides of the Susque- 
hanna, — " from the mouth of the said river up to 
the mountains called the Kakatchlanamin hills, 
and on the west side to the setting of the sun."f 
But this deed was held by the advocates of the 
Connecticut purchase, to be quite too indefinite ; 
and besides, as the " hills " mentioned, which are 
none other than the Blue Mountains, formed the 
northern boundary not only of that purchase, but 
in the apprehension of the Indians, of the Colony 
of Pennsylvania itself, Wyoming valley could not 
have been included. J 

*MS. letters of Governor Hamilton to General Johnson, in the author's 
possession. Gordon might be cited to the same purpose ; and the same 
opinion is also supported by Colonel Pickering, who remarks : — "These 
purchases were not made, I am well satisfied, at any public council, or 
open treaties of the Indians to whom they belonged, but of little knots of 
inferior and unauthorized chiefs, indifferent about the consequences, pro- 
vided they received some present gratifications, of comparatively small 
value." 

t " The lands had already been sold, to tlie Proprietaries of Pennsylva- 
nia in 1730, and that sale enlarged and confirmed by a public deed whose 
seals were scarce dry. The Indian councils at all times alterward denied 
the sale (at Albany in 1754.) 7'hey disclaimed it in Januaiy, 1755, and in 
November, 1758, at Philadelphia ; and, in 1763, they sent a deputation to 
Gonnecticut, on hearing that tliree hundred families proposed to settle 
these lands, to remonstrate against their intrusion, and to deny the alleg- 
ed sale ; and, in 1771, the Delawares and their derivative tribes, also pro- 
tested that they had never sold any right to the Connecticut claimants." — 
Gordon, 

:): On the 17th of September, 1718, Sassoon, "King of the Delaware In- 
dians" — so runs the deed, — "and Pokehais. Metashichay, Aiyamaikan, 
Pepawmaman, Ghettypenceman and Upekasset, chiefs of the said Indians, 
for and in consideration of two guns, six stroud water-coats, six blankets, 

14* 



138 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Having succeded in their purchase, the Sus- 
quehanna company procured a charter from the 
government of Connecticut, upon a memorial pray- 
ing ''that they might be formed into a distinct 
commonwealth, if it should be his Majesty's plea- 
sure to grant it, with such privileges and immu- 
nities as should be agreeable to the royal pleasure." 
The company now consisted of six hundred and 
seventy-three associates, ten of whom were resi- 
dents of Pennsylvania ; and it was beyond doubt 
their design to form a separate colony, with a gov- 
ernment of its own, subject, not to that of Con- 
necticut, but only to the crown. But the course 
of subsequent events defeated that object. Still, 
it was not immediately abandoned, and a meeting 
of the company was called at Hartford, at which 
the purchase was divided into shares and distrib- 
uted among the associates. A messenger had been 
previously despatched to Pennsylvania, to summon 
the attendance of the shareholders residing in that 
province ; but he was arrested by the civil author- 
ities, and after the Governor, Morris, had been 
apprized of the circumstance, and the fresh move- 
ments of the company, a messenger was sent to 
Hartford with a remonstrance against their farther 

six duffle match-coats, and four kettles, gave a deed of confirmation of 
antecedent sales, by their ancestors to William Penn, of all the lands be- 
tween " the two rivers, Delaware and Susquehanna, from Duck Creek to 
the mountains on this side Lechay." This deed is certified, among oth- 
ers, by Sir William Keith, at that time gevernor of Pennsylvania. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 139 

proceedings. What became of the messenger 
who was arrested does not appear. 

Nothing daunted by the remonstrance, the com- 
pany pushed forward a number of colonists, ac- 
companied by surveyors and agents, in order to 
the immediate commencement of the new repub- 
lic. Unluckily for the enterprise, however, the 
company arrived in the valley just as the Indians, 
under the influence of the French, as related in a 
former chapter, and encouraged by the defeat of 
Braddock and the fall of Oswego, were beginning 
to manifest a hostile disposition toward the Eng- 
lish. The Nanticokes were the most belligerent 
in their feelings, and would probably have detain- 
ed the new comers as prisoners, had it not been 
for the friendly interposition of Teedyuscung, who 
had not yet determined to take up the hatchet, 
although he did so soon afterward. In conse- 
quence of this interposition, no injury was inflicted 
upon the strangers, and they judged wisely in 
abandoning the enterprise for the time, and re- 
turning to Connecticut. The attempt was not 
renewed until after the general peace with the 
Indians, concluded at Easton, as heretofore stated, 
in 175S, nor indeed until after the fall of Canada 
before the valor of the English and Provincial 
arms. 

The Delaware company commenced a settle- 
ment, under favorable circumstances, at a place 



140 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

called Cushetunk, on the river whence the name 
of their association was derived, in 1757 ; and in 
1758 the Susquehanna Company resumed their 
preparations for planting their colony in Wyoming. 
But the unsettled condition of the frontier, not- 
withstanding the peace then just concluded with 
the Indians, seemed to render it inexpedient, if 
not hazardous, for those intending to become col- 
onists to venture at that time so far into the wil- 
derness. These dangers being apparently removed, 
in the year 1762 a body of settlers to the number 
of about two hundred pushed forward to the val- 
ley, so long the object of their keen desire. They 
planted themselves down upon the margin of the 
river, a short distance above its intersection by a 
fine stream of water, called Mill Creek, flowing 
from the east ; and at a sufficient distance from 
the Indian towns to prevent any immediate collis- 
ion of their agricultural interests. The greater 
part of the valley was yet covered with wood, ex- 
cepting for short distances close around the Del- 
aware and Shawanese towns, where the trees had 
been cut away in the slender progress of Indian 
husbandry. But the new colonists set themselves 
vigorously at work ; a sufficient number of log 
houses and cabins were erected for their accom- 
modation ; and before the arrival of winter, ex- 
tensive fields of wheat had been sown upon lands 
covered with forest trees in August. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 141 

These adventurers had not taken their famihes 
with them ; and having now made so favorable a 
beginning, they secured their agricultural imple- 
ments and returned to Connecticut.* It has been 
asserted that the resident Indians were opposed 
to this intrusion of the pale-faces among them, and 
that their chief, Teedyuscung, strongly remonstra- 
ted against it.f This may be true, but if so, it is 
equally true that they must have soon laid aside 
their prejudices, inasmuch as they speedily came 
to live upon terms of daily intercommunication, 
and great apparent harmony. But it was not thus 
with the Pennsylvanians. They looked with dis- 
pleasure upon such a bold encroachment upon ter- 
ritories claimed as their own, and the most strenu- 
ous efforts were again put forth to crush the enter- 
prise. The correspondence between the Exec- 
utive of Pennsylvania and Sir William Johnson 
was re-opened, and the influence of the Baronet 
was exerted upon the Six Nations, to persuade 
them to disavow the sale of seventeen hundred and 
fifty-four. Those of the Indians who had not been 
concerned in the sale, and who on the other hand 
were doubtless opposed to it, were of course not 
unwilling to repudiate the transaction ; and a 
deputation of five of their chiefs was sent to Hart- 
ford, accompanied by Colonel Guy Johnson, Dep- 

* Chapman. t Gordon. 



142 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

uty- Agent, and an interpreter sent by Sir William. 
Conferences were held by these chiefs with the 
Governor of Connecticut and his Council, on the 
28th and 30th of May, in the course of which the 
sale of the land was disavowed as a national trans- 
action. They admitted that a sale had been made, 
but denied its validity, inasmuch, they averred, as 
it had not been made according to ancient usage, 
in a full and open Council, but the chiefs who had 
signed the deed had been applied to separately, 
and had acted only in their individual capacities. 
Governor Fitch, in reply, assured the chiefs that 
the movements of the company had not been au- 
thorised by the government, and with their pro- 
ceedings it had in fact had nothing to do. For 
their farther satisfaction, moreover, the Governor 
informed them that orders had been received from 
His Majesty, commanding him to use his authority 
and influence to prevent the intended movement 
upon the lands in dispute, until the matter should 
be laid before the King. They were likewise, 
still farther assured that the company had acquies- 
ed in those orders, and had unanimously agreed 
that no person should enter upon the lands until 
His Majesty's pleasure should be known.* With 
these assurances, the deputies, consisting of one 
Mohawk,two Onondagas, and two Cayugas, — none 

♦For the proceedings of these conferences at Hartford, seeappendi* 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 143 

of them chiefs of note, — seem to have been satis- 
fied. But whatever might have been the desire 
of the shareholders of the company, the individu- 
als who had resolved to emigrate gave little at- 
tention to their stipulations with the Governor ; and 
their advance was met by a series of unheeded pro- 
clamations, and followed by the powerless remon- 
strances of the sheriff and magistracy residing in 
Northampton county, on the Delaware, to which 
the valley of Wyoming was held to belong, 
the seat of justice of which was at Easton. Nor 
was this all. In the course of the same year, the 
Proprietaries of Pennsylvania made a case, and 
took the opinion of the Attorney General of the 
crown,* as to the right of Connecticut to the terri- 
tory she was claiming. That officer was clear in 
his opinion against Connecticut — holding that, by 
virtue of her adjustment of boundaries with New- 
York, she was precluded from advancing a step 
beyond. But the Susquehanna company was not 
idle. Colonel Ehphalet Dyer, a leading associate, 
and a man of energy and abilities, was dispatched 
to England, charged likewise with a ''case," care- 
fully prepared, which was presented to the con- 
sideration of eminent counsel in London, who 
came to a directly opposite conclusion. f Each 

*Mr. Pratt — afterward Lord Camden. 

t The author has obtained a collection of Colonel Dj'er's correspondence 
while abroad upon this mission. His letters prove his diligence, and his 
perseverance, in prosecuting his business, but are not historically impor- 
tant. 



144 HISTORY or WYOMING. 

party, therefore, felt strengCliened by those con- 
flicting legal opinions, and both became the more 
resolute in the prosecution of their claims. 

Meantime fresh scenes were opening in the dis- 
puted territory itself, as painful as unexpected. 
Notwithstanding a proclamation issued by Gover- 
nor Fitch, eight days after the conferences with 
the Indians were ended, forbidding the people of 
Connecticut from trespassing upon the disputed 
territory, the pioneers who in the summer of 1762 
had commenced their operations in Wyoming, re- 
turned to the valley to resume their labors early 
in the ensuing spring, accompanied by their fami- 
lies, and with augumented numbers of settlers. 
They were furnished with an adequate supply of 
provisions, and took with them a quantity of live 
stock, black cattle, horses, and pigs. Thus pro- 
vided, and calculating to draw largely from the 
teeming soil in the course of the season, they re- 
sumed their labors with light hearts and vigorous 
arms. The forests rapidly retreated before their 
well-directed blows, and in the course of the sum- 
mer they commenced bringing the lands into cul- 
tivation on the west side of the river. Their ad- 
vancement was now so rapid, that it is believed 
the jealousies of the Indians began to be awak- 
ened. At least, notwithstanding the claims which 
the Six Nations had asserted over the territory, 
by virtue of which they had sold to the Susque- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 145 

hanna Company, Teedyuscung and his people 
alleged that they ought themselves to receive com- 
pensation also. Sir William Johnson had indeed 
predicted as much in a letter addressed to Gov- 
ernor Fitch, in the preceding month of November, 
in which he said : — " I cannot avoid giving you 
my sentiments, as I formerly did, that the Indians 
insist upon the claims of the people of Con- 
necticut to lands on the Susquehanna, as unlawful, 
and the steps taken to obtain the same to be un- 
just, and have declared themselves determined to 
oppose any such settlement. I am therefore ap- 
prehensive any farther attempt at an establishment 
there, will not only be severely felt by those who 
shall put the same in execution, but may, (not- 
withstanding all my endeavors to the contrary,) be 
productive of fatal consequences on our fron- 
tiers."* 

Thus matters stood until early in October, when 
an event occurred which broke up the settlement 
at one fell blow. It has already been seen that at 
the great council held at Easton, in 1758, the Six 
Nations had observed with no very cordial feelings, 
the important position which Teedyuscung had 
attained in the opinion of the whites, by the force 
of his talents and the energy of his character. 
Long accustomed to view the Delaware s and their 

* MSS. draught of the letter in the author's possession. 

15 



146 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

derivative tribes as their subjects, the haughty 
Mengwes could not brook this advancement of a 
supposed inferior; and the reflection had been rank- 
ling in their bosoms ever since the meeting of that 
council, until it was determined to cut off the ob- 
ject of their hate. For this purpose, at the time 
above mentioned, ti party of warriors from the Six 
Nations came to the valley upon a pretended visit 
of friendship, and after lingering about for several 
days, they in the night time treacherously set fire 
to the house of the unsuspecting chief, which, with 
the veteran himself, was burnt to ashes. The 
wickedness of this deed of darkness was height- 
ened by an act of still greater atrocity. They 
charged the assassination upon the white settlers 
of Connecticut, and had the address to inspire the 
Delawares with such a belief. The consequences 
may readily be anticipated. Teedyuscung was 
greatly beloved by his people, and their exaspera- 
tion at '' the deep damnation of his taking off," was 
kindled to a degree of corresponding intensity. 

The white settlers, however, being entirely inno- 
cent of the transaction, — utterly unconscious that it 
had been imputed to them, — were equally uncon- 
scious of the storm that was so suddenly to break 
upon their heads. Their intercourse with the Indi- 
ans, during the preceding year, had been so entire- 
ly friendly, that they had not even provided them- 
selves with weapons of self-defence ; and although 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 147 

there had been some shght manifestations of jea- 
lousy at their onward progress, among the Indians, 
yet their pacific relations, thus far, had not been 
interrupted. But they were now reposing in false 
security. Stimulated to revenge by the represen- 
tations of their false and insidious visiters, the De- 
lawares, on the 14th of October, rose upon the 
settlement, and massacred about thirty of the 
people, in cold blood, at noonday, while engaged 
in the labors of the field. Those who escaped 
ran to the adjacent plantations, to apprize them of 
what had happened, and were the swift messen- 
gers of the painful intelligence to the houses of 
the settlement, and the families of the slain. It was 
an hour of sad consternation. Having no arms 
even for self-defence, the people were compelled 
at once to seize upon such few of their effects as 
they could carry upon their shoulders, and flee to 
the mountains. As they turned back during their 
ascent to steal an occasional glance at the beauti- 
ful valley below, they beheld the savages driving 
their cattle away to their own towns, and plun- 
dering their houses of the goods that had been 
left. At nightfall the torch was applied, and the 
darkness that hung over the vale was illuminated 
by the lurid flames of their own dwellings, — the 
abodes of happiness and peace in the morning. 
Hapless indeed was the condition of the fugitives. 
Their number amounted to several hundreds — 



148 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

men, women and children, — the infant at the 
breast, — the happy wife a few brief hours before, 
— now a widow, in the midst of a group of or- 
phans. The suppUes, both of provisions and cloth- 
ing, which they had secured in the moment of their 
flight, were altogether inadequate to their wants. 
The chilly winds of autumn were howling with 
melancholy wail among the mountain pines, 
through which, over rivers and glens, and fearful 
morasses, they were to thread their way sixty miles, 
to the nearest settlements on the Delaware, and 
thence back to their friends in Connecticut a dis- 
tance of two hundred and fifty miles. Notwith- 
standing the hardships they were compelled to en- 
counter, and the deprivations under which they 
labored, many of them accomplished the journey 
in safety, while others, lost in the mazes of the 
swamps, were never heard of more. 

Thus fell Teedyuscung, who, with all his faults, 
was yet one of the noblest of his race. Yet his char- 
acter stands not well in history, — not as well, by 
any means, as it deserves. That he was a man 
of talents and courage, there can be no question, 
but withal he was greatly subject to the constitu- 
tional infirmities of his race, — unstable in his pur- 
poses, and a lover of the fire-waters, — the ene- 
my which, received to the lip, steals away the 
brain alike of the white man and the red. It has 
already been seen that he was early a convert, — 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 149 

and apparently a sincere one, — to the christian 
faith of the missionaries ► But his faith was too 
weak to withstand the influence of ambition ; and 
w^hen elevated to the supreme chieftainship of the 
scattering tribes of his nation, his behavior was 
such as to cause the good missionaries to trem.ble 
for his safety, seeing that he became " like a reed 
shaken by the wdnd."* Hitherto, for many years, 
his nation had been down-trodden by the Iroquois ; 
but when they determined once more to assert 
their own manhood, and to grasp the hatchet pre- 
sented them by the French, electing Teedyuscung 
their king, as he had been their energetic cham- 
pion in the councils, before, he now became, as 
he was called, " The Trumpet of War."f He 
did not, however, long continue upon the war 
path, but, as has been seen in the preceding chap- 
ter, became an early advocate and ambassador of 
peace, although his sincerity in this respect was 
questioned by the Moravian clergy, and likewise 
by Sir William Johnson. Still it must be record- 
ed in his behalf that he appears never to have en- 
tirely forfeited the confidence of the Quakers. 
They w'ere indeed opposed to the declaration of 
war against the Indians by Governor Hamilton — - 
believing that the difficulties with them might 
have been healed by a more pacific course. And 

* Loskiel. f Idem, 

15* 



150 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

in this view they had the concurrence of Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson. But in regard to the character of 
Teedyuscung, the sympathies of the baronet were 
with his own Indians — the Six Nations. They 
hated, and finally murdered him, and Sir William 
loved him not. Yet in his correspondence, while 
he labored to detract somewhat from the lofty 
pretensions of the Delaware Captain, the baronet 
has conceded to him enough of talent, influence, 
and power among his people, to give him a proud 
rank among the chieftains of his race.* Certain 
it is, that Teedyuscung did much to restore his na- 
tion to the rank of men, of which they had been 
deprived by the Iroquois, and great allowances are 
to be made on the score of his instability of con- 
duct, from the peculiar circumstances under which 
he was often placed. In regard to his religious char- 
acter and professions, his memory rests beneath a 
cloud. There were seasons, according to the rec- 
ords of the faithful missionary in which he gave 
signs of penitence and reform. After his with- 
drawal from the war, he resided for a considera- 
ble time in the neighborhood of Bethlehem, with 
about one hundred of his warriors, and the Breth- 
ren did all in their power for his reclamation. Oc- 
casional appearances of contrition at times inspir- 
ed hopes of success. " As to externals," he once 

* MSS. Letters of Sir William Johnson to Governor Denny, and a 
very long one to Major General Abercrombie, in the author's possession. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 151 

said, '' I possess everything in plenty ; but riches 
are of no use to me, for I have a troubled con- 
science. I still remember well what it is to feel 
peace in the heart, but I have now lost all." Yet 
he soon turned back. All hopes of his case were 
lost ; and in recording his death, the benevolent 
Loskiel briefly says — '^ he was burnt in his house 
at Wajomick, without having given any proof of 
repentance."* 

Among the individual incidents marking this 
singular tragedy was the following ; — Some of the 
fugitives were pursued for a time by a portion of 
the Indians, and among them was a settler named 
Noah Hopkins, — a wealthy man from the county 
of Duchess, in the State of New-York, bordering 
upon Connecticut. He had disposed of a hand- 
some landed patrimony in his native town, Ame- 
nia, and invested the proceeds as a shareholder of 
the Susquehanna Company, and in making prepa- 
rations for moving to the new colony. Finding, 
by the sounds, that the Indians were upon his 
trail, after running a long distance, he fortunately 

* Major Parsons, who acted as secretary to the conference with Teedy- 
uscung in 175G, described him as " a lusty raw-boned man, haughty, and 
very desirous of respect and command." He was however, something of 
a wit. A tradition at Stroudsburg, states, that he there met one day a 
blaciismilh named Wm AIcNabb, a rather worthless fellow, who accosted 
him with, " Well, cousin, how do you do ?" " Cousin, cousin !" repeated 
the haughty red man, " how do you make that out?" " Oh ! we are all 
cousins from Adam." "Ah! then, I am glad it is no nearer I" was the 
cutting reply. 



152 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

discovered the trunk of a large hollow tree upon 
the ground, into which he crept. After lying 
there several hours, his apprehensions of danger 
were greatly quickened by the tread of foot-steps. 
They approached, and in a few moments two or 
three savages were actually seated upon the log in 
consultation. He heard the bullets rattle loosely 
in their pouches. They actually looked into the 
hollow trunk, suspecting that he might be there ; 
but the examination must have been slight, as they 
discovered no traces of his presence. The object 
of their search, however, in after-life, attributed 
his escape to the labors of a busy spider, which, 
after he crawled into the log, had been industri- 
ously engaged in weaving a web over the en- 
trance. Perceiving this, the Indians supposed, as 
a matter of course, that the fugitive could not 
have entered there. This is rather a fine-spun the- 
ory of his escape ; but it was enough for him that 
he was not discovered. After remaining in his 
place of concealment as long as nature could en- 
dure the confinement, Hopkins crept forth, wan- 
dering in the wilderness without food, until he was 
on the point of famishing. In this situation, 
knowing that he could but die, he cautiously stole 
down into the valley again, whence five days be- 
fore he had fled. All was desolation there. The 
crops were destroyed, the cattle gone, and the 
smouldering brands and embers were all that re- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 153 

mained of the houses. The Indians had retired, 
and the stilhiess of death prevailed. He roamed 
about for hours in search of something to satisfy 
the cravings of nature, fording or swimming the 
river twice in his search. At length he discover- 
ed the carcass of a wild turkey, shot on the 
morning of the massacre, but which had been 
left in the flight. He quickly stripped the bird 
of its feathers, although it had become some- 
what offensive by lying in the sun, dressed 
and washed it in the river, and the first meal he 
made therefrom was ever afterward pronounced 
the sweetest of his life. Upon the strength of 
this turkey, with such roots and herbs as he could 
gather in his way, he travelled until, — after incred- 
ible hardships, his clothes being torn from his limbs 
in the thickets he was obliged to encounter, and 
his body badly lacerated, — he once more found 
himself among the dwellings of civilized men.* 

But this out-break of the Indians put an end 
to their own residence in Wyoming. On the re- 
ceipt of the tidings at Philadelphia, Governor 
Hamilton directed Colonel Boyd, of Harrisburgh, 
to march at the head of a detachment of militia, 
and disperse the authors of the massacre. The 
savages, however, had anticipated the arrival of 

* The facts of this little incidental narrative, were communicated to the 
author by Mr. G. F. Hopkins, printer, of New-York, and a nephew of the 
sufferer, who died at Tittsfield, (Mass.) at a very advanced age, about 
thirty years ago. He was a very respectable man. 



154 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the troops, — those of them at least who had par- 
ticipated in the murderous transaction, — and with- 
drawn themselves farther up the river, to the In- 
dian settlements in the vicinity of Tioga. The 
Moravian Indians resident there, who had taken 
no part in the massacre, removed toward the Del- 
aware, to Gnaddenhutten. But their residence at 
this missionary station was sliort. The horrible 
massacre of the Canestogoe Indians, residing upon 
their own reservation in the neighborhood of Lan- 
caster, in December of the same year, by the in- 
furiated religious zealots of Paxtang and Donne- 
gal, tilled them with alarm. They repaired to 
Philadelphia for protection ; and as will j)resently 
appear, were only with great difficulty saved from 
the hatchets of a lawless band of white men, tar 
more savage than themselves. 

The transaction here referred to was a most ex- 
traordinary event, the record of which forms one 
of the darkest pages of Pennsylvanian history. It 
took place in December 1763. It was during that 
year that the great Pontiac conceived the design, 
like another Philip, of driving the Europeans from 
the continent. Forming a league between the 
great interior tribes of Indians, and summoning 
their forces in unison upon the war-path, he at- 
tacked the garrisons upon the frontiers, and the 
lakes, which w^ere simultaneously invested, and 
many of them taken. The borders of Pennsylva- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 155 

nia, Maryland, and Virginia, were again ravaged 
by scalping parties, and the frontier settlers of 
Pennsylvania in particular suffered with great se- 
verity. But although the fragments of the Dela- 
wares and Six Nations still residing in that Colo- 
ny did not join in the war of ]V)ntiac, yet, either 
from ignorance or malice, suspicions were excited 
against one of the Indian Moravian communities. 
Availing themselves of this pretext, a number of 
religionists in the towns of Paxtang and Donne- 
gal, excited to a pitch of the wildest enthusiasm 
by their spiritual teachers, banded together for the 
purpose of exterminating the whole Indian race. 
Their pretext was the duty of extirpating the hea- 
tlien from the earth, as Joshua had done of old, 
tliat the saints might possess the land. The Ca- 
nestogoes were the remains of a small clan of the 
Six Nations, residing upon their own reservation, 
in the most inoffensive manner, having always 
been friendly to the English. The maddened 
zealots fell upon their little hamlet in the night, 
when, as it happened, the greater portion of them 
were absent from their homes, selling their little 
wares among the white people. Only three men, 
two women and a boy, were found in their village. 
These were dragged from their beds, and stabbed 
and hatcheted to death. Among them was a good 
old chief named Shehaes, who was cut to pieces in 
his bed. The dead were scalped, and their houses 



156 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

burnt. This infamous procedure took place on 
the 14th of the month. 

Hearing of this deplorable act, the magistrates 
of Lancaster collected the residue of the helpless 
clan, men women and children, and placed them 
in one of the public buildings of the town for their 
protection. But on the 27th, a band of fifty of 
the fanatics went openly into the borough, and 
proceeding to the work-house where the Indians 
had been placed, broke open the doors, and with 
fury in their countenances recommenced the work 
of death. Nor did the people of Lancaster lift a 
finger, or the magistrates interfere, for their de- 
fence. '' When the poor wretches saw they had 
no protection, and that they could not escape, and 
being without the least weapon of defence, they 
divided their Httle families, the children clinging 
to their parents ; they fell on their faces, protested 
their innocence, declared their love to the English, 
and that, in their whole lives, they had never done 
them any injury ; and in this posture they all re- 
ceived the hatchet. Men, women, and children 
— infants clinging to the breast — were all inhu- 
manly butchered in cold blood."* 

But the vengeance of the fanatics was not sati- 
ated. Like the tigers of the forest, having tasted 
blood, they became hungry for more ; and having 

* Proud. Vide also Gordon. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 157 

heard that the fugitives from Wyoming, feehng 
themselves unsafe at Gnaddenhutteii) had repaired 
to Philadelphia, the zealots set their faces in that 
direction, and marched upon the capital for the 
avowed purpose of putting those Indians to death 
also. Their numbers increased to an insurgent ar- 
my. Great consternation prevailed in Philadelphia 
on their approach. The poor Indians themselves 
prayed that they might be sent to England for 
safety ; but this could not be done. An attempt 
was then made by the government to send them 
to the Mohawk country, for the protection of Sir 
William Johnson ; but the civil authorities of New- 
York objected, and the fugitives were marched 
back to Philadelphia. Whereupon the insurgents 
embodied themselves again, and marclied once 
more upon that capital in greater numbers than 
before. Another season of peril and alarm ensued, 
and the Governor hid himself away in the house 
of Doctor Franklin ; but the legislature being in 
session, and the people, the Quakers even not ex- 
cepted, evincing a proper spirit for the occasion, 
the insurgents were in the end persuaded to listen 
to the voice of reason, and disband themselves. 
It is a singular fact, that the actors in this strange 
and tragic affair were not of the lower orders of 
the people. They were Presbyterians, comprising 
in their ranks men of intelligence, and of so much 
consideration that the press dared not disclose 
16 



158 , HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

their names, nor the government attempt their 
punishment.* It was indeed beheved by some, 
that the murder of the Indians was by no means 
the chief end of their design ; but that, taking ad- 
vantage of the wide-spread consternation they had 
produced, they intended to overturn the govern- 
ment, and revolutionize the colony.f 

After these disorders were quieted, and the In- 
dian Moravians had had time to look about for a 
place of retreat, they removed to a place called 
Mahackloosing — or Machwihilusing — the Wyalu- 
sing of later times, — situated upon the banks of 
the Susquehanna, sixty miles above Wyoming. 
The missionaries had hastened to this place before ; 
but it had been deserted in the late war — the new- 
comers finding the old huts yet standing.j; Here 
" they built a considerable village, containing at 
one period more than thirty good log houses, with 
shingled roofs and glazed windows, a church and 
school-house, not inferior to many erected by weal- 
thy farmers." They also turned their attention 
earnestly to agricultural pursuits, clearing and en- 
closing large tracts of upland and meadow. They 
resided at this place several years very Jiappily ; 
but were ultimately induced to join the Moravian 
Indians beyond the Ohio.^ 

* Proud— Gordon. f Loskiel 

X Loskiel. § Proud— Gordon. 



CHAPTER V. 

Attempt of the Susquehanna Company to recolonize, — Pennsjivania claims 
the territory again, and leases the valley to Ogden and his associates, — 
Rival settlements, — Civil War, — Ogden besieged, — Arrests of the Con- 
necticut people, — Situation, — Hostilities resumed, — Ogden draws off, — 
The Colony advances, — Propositions for an adjustment, — Rejected by 
Governor Penn, — Expedition of Colonel Francis, — His retreat, — Addi- 
tional forces raised by Penn, — Ogden captures Colonel Durkee, — Con- 
necticut settlers negotiate, and leave the valley, — Bad Faith of Ogden, 
— Lazarus Stewart, — Susquehanna Company reoccupy the valley, — Og- 
den returns with forces,— Both parties fortify, — Ogden besieged, — Surren- 
ders, — Penn applies to General Gage, — Request denied, — Reinvaded by 
Ogden, — Yankees taken by surprise, — Captured in the field, — Their fort 
taken, — Arrest of Lazarus Stewart, — Rescued, — Returns to Wyoming 
and recaptures the fort, — Ogden reappears, — Both parties fortify, — A skir- 
mish, — Nathan Ogden killed, — Sensation among the Pennsylvanians, — 
Lazarus Stewart draws off, and Ogden retains the valley, and commen- 
ces planting a colony, — Sudden descent of Zebulun Butler with a strong 
force, — Ogden again besieged, — Escapes to Philadelphia by stratagem for 
succors, — His reinforcements defeated, — Ogden is wounded, — The fort 
surrenders to the Yankees. 

Six years intervened before the Susquehanna 
Company attempted to resume their operations in 
the fair valley of Wyoming. But in the mean- 
time the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, taking ad- 
vantage of a grand Indian council assembled at 
Fort Stanwix, in the autumn of 1768, had attempt- 
ed to strengthen their claim to the disputed terri- 
tory by a direct purchase from the Six Nations. 



160 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

This object was of no difficult attainment, as the 
Indians might doubtless have been persuaded to 
sell that, or almost any other portion of disputed 
territory, as many times over as white purchasers 
could be found to make payment. In a word, the 
Pennsylvanians were successful, and took a deed 
of the territory from some of the chiefs, in Novem- 
ber, 1768. 

But, nothing daunted by this movement, the 
Susquehanna Company called a meeting, and re- 
solved to resume the settlement, by throwing a 
body of forty pioneers into the valley in the month 
of February 1769, to be followed by two hundred 
more in the Spring. Indeed the association, in 
order to strengthen their power as well as their 
claims, and to expand their settlements, now ap- 
propriated five townships, each five miles square, 
and divided into forty shares, as free gifts to the 
first forty settlers in each township.* Many parts 
of the flats, or bottom lands, were of course alrea- 
dy clear of wood, and ready for cultivation. An 
appropriation of two hundred pounds was made 
for the purchase of agricultural implements ; regu- 
lations for the government of the colony were 
drawn up, and a committee appointed to carry 
them into eftect.f 

* Letter of Colonel Pickering to his son. 

fThig committee consisted of Isaac Tripp, Benjamin Follet, John Jen- 
kins. William Buck, and Benjamin Shoemaker. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 161 

The Pennsylvanians, for once, anticipated the 
people of Connecticut. No sooner had they heard 
of the renewed movements of the Susquehanna 
Company, than they made preparations for the 
immediate occupation of the valley themselves. 
To this end, a lease of the valley for seven years 
was given to Charles Stuart,* Amos Ogden, and 
John Jennings, conditioned that they should estab- 
lish a trading-house, for the accommodation of the 
Indians, and adopt the necessary measures for de- 
fending themselves, and those who might proceed 
thither under their lease. Mr. Stewart, a gentle- 
man of talents, enterprise and wealth, had been 
extensively and successfully engaged in taking 
up and leasing lands under the new purchasers, 
from the Indians, of the Pennsylvanians, and was 
at the time Deputy Surveyor General of the prov- 
ince. By him the valley w^as divided and laid out 

*Of New-Jersey: afterward Colonel Stewart of the continental army. 
An early and active promoter of the Revolution, he was among the first of 
his compatriots at a convention of the leading gentlemen of the colony at 
Trenton, to take a bold and decided stand against the crown ; and on the 
commencement of hostilities, had the command of the second regiment of 
the Jersey line tendered him, that of the first being given to Lord Sterling. 
He was shortly afterward appointed by congress to the staff" of Washing- 
ton, as commissary G(!neral of Issues, which station he filled till the termi- 
nation of the war.— He was a member of the congress; of the convention ; 
also of that of 1784— 1785 ; and on the organization of the government nn- 
der the constitution, was offered by Washington the Surveyor Generalship 
of the United States, an appointment which he declined, chiefly, from the 
occupation of his time, in the prosecution of what he conceived to be the 
legal and equitable claims of himself and associates to the manors of Wy- 
oming. 

16* 



162 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

into two manors, that portion of it lying upon the 
eastern side, including the Indian town of Wyo- 
ming, being called the " Manor of Stoke," and the 
western division the " Manor of Sunbury." In 
January, 1769, the lessees, with a number of Col- 
onists, proceeded to the valley, took possession of 
the former Connecticut improvements, and erected 
a block-house, for their defence, should their title 
and proceedings be disputed. The party of forty 
from Connecticut pressed close upon the heels of 
Stewart and Ogden, and sat down before their lit- 
tle garrison on the Sth of February. It was a close 
investment, all intercourse between the besieged 
and their friends, if they had any, in the surround- 
ing country, being cut off. Having heard of the 
approach of the Connecticut party, however, 
Charles Stewart and his associates despatched a 
messenger to Governor Penn, stating that they had 
but ten men in the block-house, and requesting 
assistance. But after waiting a sufficient length 
of time without receiving reinforcements, the be- 
sieged had recourse to stratagem to accomplish 
what they could not effect by power. Under the 
pretext of a consultation, to the end of an amica- 
ble adjustment of the question of title, three of the 
Connecticut party, viz : Isaac Tripp, Vine Elder- 
kin, and Benjamin Follet, were induced to enter 
the garrison, where they were immediately arres- 
ted by Jennings, who was sheriff of Northampton 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 163 

County, conveyed to Easton, and there thrown 
into prison. Their rescue would have been at- 
tempted, but for the fear of endangering their Hves. 
However, the prisoners were accompanied to Eas- 
ton by the whole of both parties ; and the key of 
the prison was scarcely turned upon them before 
bail was given for their good behaviour, and the 
Connecticut party retraced their steps to AVyom- 
ing, where their labors were resumed with charac- 
teristic energy. Finding that the numbers of the 
emigrants were increasing, Jennings made another 
effort to arrest their persons and proceedings in 
March. The posse of the county, together with 
several magistrates, were ordered upon the service, 
and they again marched upon Wyoming in an im- 
posing array. The Connecticut people had pre- 
pared a block-house hastily for defence ] but the 
doors were broken by Jennings, who succeeded in 
arresting thirty-one persons, all of whom, with the 
exception of a few who effected their escape while 
marching through a swamp, were taken to Easton, 
cast into prison as before, — and again admitted 
to bail, just in season to return once more to Wy- 
oming with a party of two hundred recruits who 
now joined them from the Susquehanna Company. 
Thus reinforced, their first work was to build a 
fort upon a convenient site, protected by the river 
on one side, and a creek and morass upon anoth- 
er. It was a regular military defence, consisting 



164 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

of a strong block-house, surrounded by a rampart 
and entrenchment. In the immediate neighbor- 
hood of the fortress, — called Fort Durkee, in hon- 
or of the officer elected to its command, — they 
erected about thirty log-houses, with loop-holes 
through which to fire in the event of an attack. 
But they had no immediate cause to try the strength 
of their defences, although Jennings and Ogden 
were at the moment raising forces to march against 
them. They arrived in the valley on the 24th of 
May ; but the works of the Connecticut boys ap- 
peared too formidable to justify an attack by so 
small a number of men as they had the honor to 
command. Jennings and Ogden therefore return- 
ed to Easton, and reported to the Governor that 
the power of the county was inadequate to the 
task of dispossessing the Connecticut settlers, who 
now numbered three hundred able-bodied men. 

For a short season the latter were left to push 
forward their improvements without molestation, 
during which state of repose the company com- 
missioned Colonel Dyer and Major Elderkin to 
proceed to Philadelphia and endeavor to nego- 
tiate a compromise on the question of title. But 
the proposition, which was for a reference of the 
whole matter in dispute, either to an arbitrament 
or a court of law, was rejected by Governor 
Penn ; and an armed force, under the command 
of Colonel Francis, was detached to Wyoming, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 165 

with orders to demand a surrender of the fort and 
garrison. The summons was not obeyed ; and 
the Colonel, as the Sheriff of Northampton had 
done before him, after surveying the works, and 
the other preparations for his reception, should he 
attempt an assault, arrived at the conclusion that 
his force likewise was inadequate to the enterprise. 
He therefore retreated, and upon a representation 
of the facts to the Governor, a more formidable 
expedition was immediately set on foot. Mr. 
Sheriff Jennings was directed to assemble the 
power of Northampton county in stronger array 
than before, and to march against the intruders, 
well furnished with small arms, a four-pounder, 
and an abundant supply of fixed ammunition. 
He was carefully instructed by Govenor Penn, 
however, to avoid, if possible, an effusion of blood. 
Having knowledge of the approach of Jennings, 
Ogden, with a band of forty armed men, antici- 
pated his arrival by dashing suddenly among the 
houses of the settlement, and making several pri- 
soners — among whom was Colonel Durkee, 
These he secured and carried away— thus weak- 
ening the forces of the settlers, and perchance dis- 
heartening them by the loss of their principal 
officer. Durkee was taken to Philadelphia and 
closely imprisoned. Two days after his capture, 
Jennings arrived before the fort with two hundred 
men in arms, and commenced a parley with the 



166 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

garrison, during which Ogden and his company 
were busy in driving away their cattle and horses 
found grazing in the fields. On the following 
day Jennings commenced the erection of a battery 
upon which his ordnance was to be mounted. 
These preparations beginning to wear a more se- 
rious aspect, the garrison proposed a negociation. 
The result was a capitulation, by wiiich the set- 
tlers agreed to surrender the fort and contiguous 
buildings. All the colonists from Connecticut, 
but seventeen, were to return. These seven- 
teen men, with their families, were to be allowed 
to remain and harvest the crops upon the ground. 
They were likewise to hold possession of the lands 
and improvements in the name of the Company, 
until the pleasure of his Majesty should be known 
in regard to the rival claims of the parties. The 
articles of capitulation, drawn out in due form, 
were carried into effect by the settlers ; but Og- 
den behaved in bad faith. The people, with the 
exception of the seventeen who were to remain, 
as before mentioned, had no sooner departed from 
the valley than Ogden commenced an indiscrim- 
inate system of plunder. All their live stock was 
seized and driven away ; their houses were strip- 
ped ; and, in a word, deprived of the means of 
subsistence, the seventeen, with their families, 
were compelled to wend their way back to Con- 
necticut, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 167 

Early in the ensuing year, demonstrations of a 
yet more belligerent character were put forth by 
the claimants under the Susquehanna Company. 
It has been noted at a former page, that there were 
several share-holders of the Company residing in 
Pennsylvania. In the month of February, 1770, 
therefore, a gentleman, named Lazarus Stewart 
led a number of men from Lancaster into the Wy- 
oming valley, who were joined on their progress 
by a body of people from Connecticut. They 
were all armed, and Fort Durkee, garrisoned by 
only eight or ten men, was taken without opposi- 
tion. Ogden himself was absent at the time, a*nd 
the victors proceeded to his house and captured 
the piece of ordnance already mentioned. On 
hearing of these transactions, Ogden hastened 
back to Wyoming, accompanied by about fifty 
men, by whom he garrisoned his own house, (a 
formidable block-house,) and commenced adding 
to its strength. On the 28th a detachment of fif- 
ty men was sent against him, with a view of car- 
rying the stockade by assault and taking him pris- 
oner. He had a deputy sheriff with him, however, 
who, at the head of a strong party, sallied out for 
the purpose of arresting the assailants. A smart 
skirmish ensued, during which several of the Con- 
necticut people were wounded, and one man kil- 
led. Finding that Ogden's men could fire upon 
them from his house, without exposing themselves 



168 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

to danger, the Connecticut people retreated, and 
as Colone] Durkee had returned from Philadelphia, 
a regular siege of Ogden's fortress was determined 
upon, A battery was erected over against him 
on the opposite bank of the river, upon which the 
four-pounder was mounted, and briskly played 
upon Ogden for several days, without making 
much impression on his defences. Durkee's men 
then determined to bring the enemy to closer quar- 
ters, for which purpose they were arranged in three 
divisions, and marched out with drums beating 
and colors flying, to within musket shot of the 
block-house. Three breast-works were rapidly 
constructed, from which the firing was again com- 
menced, and briskly returned. After five days of 
desultory firing on both sides, a party of the be- 
siegers advanced under Ogden's guns, with great 
intrepidity, and set fire to one of his outworks, 
which was consumed, together with a large quan- 
tity of goods contained therein. Ogden had again 
called upon Governor Penn for reinforcements ; 
but as these were not forthcoming, the contest re- 
laxed. Colonel Durkee despatched a flag to Og- 
den, requesting a conference, which was acceded 
to, and he surrendered upon terms similar to those 
which had been granted to the Connecticut people 
the season before. He had no improvements or 
land to protect ; but the stipulation was that he 
should withdraw himself and all his party from the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING, 169 

valley, excepting six men, who were to remain to 
guard his house and preserve his property. After 
his retreat, however, the evil which he had done 
the people from Connecticut, the season before, 
was requited upon his own head. His property 
was seized by the Yankees, and his house burnt.* 
It was believed that Governor Penn would have 
attempted his relief but for his own unquiet posi- 
tion just at that time — the Boston massacre having 
given an impulse to the spirit which not long af- 
terward broke forth in the war of the Revolution. 
Thus situated, the Governor called upon General 
Gage, then commanding the forces of the crown 
at New- York ; but the General replied that he 
thought the character of the dispute was such that 
it would be highly improper for the King's troops 
to interfere. 

Failing thus in the application for the aid of his 
majesty's troops. Governor Penn issued another 
proclamation on the 28th of June, forbidding any 
settlers from planting themselves down upon the 
disputed territory, unless by consent of the lessees, 
Stewart and Ogden. The energies of the govern- 
ment were likewise put in exercise to raise a force 
adequate to the work of carrying the proclamation 

* Among the prisoners found in the block-house after the capitulation, 
were eight men from New-England, and three Germans, who had never 
before been in Wyoming, and who mistook Ogden's house for the fort of 
the opposite party. The number of killed and wounded during the siege 
is not known — C'lapman. 

17 



]70 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

into effect. It appears to have been a hard matter, 
however, to enhst troops for the service. The 
summer passed away before the expedition was 
on foot, and the entire body numbered only one 
hundred and forty men.* But the deficiency of 
numbers was made up by the courage and skill 
of their leader, who was none other than Captain 
Ogden himself. Taking the route of the Lehigh, 
and the old "Indian Walk," this enterprising man 
arrived with his forces upon the crest of the moun- 
tain overlooking the settlement, on the 22d of 
September. He was well aware that his band of 
one hundred and forty men would stand but a 
poor chance with the Connecticut boys, unless he 
could take them by surprise. To this end, there- 
fore, he had advanced with so much circumspec- 
tion that the colonists were entirely ignorant of 
his approach. By the aid of his telescope he ob- 
served the movements of the settlers in the mor- 
ning, until, utterly unconscious of danger, they 
went forth in small squads, to engage in the labors 
of their field. Then separating his own men into 
divisions equal to the number of the laboring par- 
ties, Ogden descended into the valley, and stole 
upon them with such admirable caution, that many 
of them were made prisoners almost before they 

* Colonel Pickering attribiiles the difficulty of raising troops to march 
against Wyoming, on every application, not only to the unpopularity of 
the Proprietaries, but to the influence of the Quakers, to whom war was 
always abhorrent. Vide, letter to his son. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 171 

knew of their danger. Those who escaped ran 
to the fort and gave the alarm. The women and 
children from the houses immediately collected 
within the fort for safety, while Ogden drew off 
into a gorge of the mountain, where his prisoners 
were made secure and sent off to Easton under a 
strong escort. Within the garrison all was confu- 
sion during the day, while Ogden, yet too weak 
to hazard another attack, kept in his concealment, 
trusting to chance or stratagem to direct his next 
movement. Every thing worked entirely to his 
satisfaction. The garrison, finding that they had 
provisions for a siege, resolved to send an express, 
under cover of the night, to their brother colonists 
of Coshuntunk for aid. But the messengers de- 
tached upon this service, supposing that Ogden 
would guard the path leading to the Delaware 
colony, resolved upon taking a route less exposed 
— and by doing so they threw themselves directly 
into his camp. From these unfortunate messen- 
gers Ogden extracted such information touching 
the situation of affairs within the fortress, as de- 
termined him at once to make a night attack. It 
was a wise resolution. Crowded with men, wo- 
men, and children, the little fort was in no con- 
dition for repelling an assault, and the result was, 
a surprise and complete success. The movements 
of the assailants were conducted with so much 
secrecy, that the sentinel was knocked down be- 



172 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

fore he saw aught of alarm ; the door of the block- 
house was easily forced ; and after a short affray, 
in which the belligerents were tumbling over wo- 
men and children, and during v/hich several persons 
of the garrison were killed, the fort surrendered. 
In the course of the melee. Captain Zebulon But- 
ler would have been killed by a bayonet, but for 
the interposition of Captain Craig, one of Ogden's 
officers, who arrested the weapon, and prevented 
farther bloodshed. The greater portion of the 
prisoners were sent to Easton for imprisonment, 
while Butler and a few of the chief men were or- 
dered to Philadelphia. Ogden then plundered the 
fort, and all the houses of the settlement, of what- 
ever he could find of value, and withdrew to the 
larger settlements beyond the mountains — leaving 
a garrison to retain possession of the fort during 
the winter. 

But it was shortly determined by the fortunes 
of war, that this oft-contested position should 
again change hands. After the burning of Og- 
den's house, as already mentioned, warrants were 
issued by the Judges of the Supreme Court of 
Pennsylvania, directing the arrest of liazarus 
Stewart, Zebulon Butler, and Lazarus Young, 
for the crime of arson. Stewart was taken at 
Lebanon ; but some of his partizans in the neigh- 
borhood, hearing of his arrest, immediately re- 
paired thither for his rescue. On their approach 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 173 

lie knocked down the officer in whose charge he 
had been placed, and joined his friends, whom he 
shortly led back to Wyoming, though, as it would 
appear, in profound secrecy. Meantime, as the 
settlers from Connecticut had been completely 
dispersed by Ogden in the autumn, the garrison 
left by him at Fort Durkee saw no necessity for 
keeping an over-vigilant watch. The result of 
their negligence should serve as a caution to sol- 
diers as well in peace as in war ; since it happen- 
ed that at about three o'clock on the morning of 
December ISth, this little isolated garrison was 
awakened from a deep and quiet slumber by an 
unceremonious visit from Stewart, at the head of 
twenty-three Lancastrians, and half a dozen Con- 
necticut boys, who had already taken possession 
of the fort, and were shouting " Huzzah for King 
George !" The garrison consisted of but eigh- 
teen men, exclusive of several women and chil- 
dren. Six of the former leaped from the parapet 
and escaped naked to the woods. The residue 
were taken prisoners ; but were subsequently 
driven from the valley, after being relieved of such 
of their movables as the victors thought worth the 
taking. Stewart and his men remained in the 
fort. 

These bold and lawless exploits of Stewart 
created a strong sensation in the minds of the 
Proprietaries' government. Another warrant for 

*17 



^1 

174 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

his arrest was issued by the Supreme Court, 
and the Sheriff of Northanlptoii was directed to > 
proceed with the power of his county once/V 
more to Wyoming, and execute the writ. He^* 
arrived before the fort with his forces on Sat- 
urday the 18th of January, 1771, and demanded 
admittance, which was refused — Stewart declar- 
ing that Wyoming was under the jurisdiction of 
Connecticut, to whose laws and civil officers only 
he owed obedience. The parley continued until 
nightfall, when the sheriff retired to a new block- 
house which Amos Ogden and his brother Nathan 
with their followers were building. This work 
w^as completed on Sunday ; and on Monday Na- 
than Ogden accompanied the sheriff and his posse 
once more in front of Fort Durkee, to demand the 
surrender of Stewart. Another refusal ensued, 
whereupon Ogden commenced firing upon the 
fort, which was promptly returned. Ogden fell 
dead, and several of his men were wounded. The 
body being secured, the party returned to the 
block-house, and the residue of the day was occu- 
pied by Amos Ogden and the sheriff in devising 
what next was to be done. But the entire aspect 
of the siege was changed the ensuing night, by 
the silent evacuation of the fort by Stewart and 
forty of his men, leaving only twelve men behind, 
who quietly surrendered to the sheriff the next 
day, and were marched across the mountains to 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 17 5 

Easton. Amos Ogden remained in the fort, and 
persuaded many of his former associates again to 
join him, and attempt once more to colonize this 
vale of beauty and trouble. The death of Nathan 
Ogden was regarded by the authorities of Penn- 
sylvania as the greatest outrage that had thus far 
marked this most singular and obstinate contest ; 
and a reward of three hundred pounds was offered 
for the apprehension of Lazarus Stewart. But he 
was not taken. 

The valley now had rest for the comparatively 
long period of six months, during which time the 
settlers of Ogden had increased to the number of 
eighty-two persons, including women and children. 
Their repose and their agricultural occupations 
were, however, suddenly interrupted on the 6th of 
July, by the descent from the mountains of sev- 
enty armed men from Connecticut, under the com- 
mand of Captain Zebulon Butler, who had been 
joined by Lazarus Stewart at the head of another 
party. There object was to regain the possession 
of the valley, and they set themselves at work like 
men who were in earnest. During the season of 
repose which Ogden had enjoyed, he had aban- 
doned Fort Durkee, and built another and stronger 
defence, which he called Fort Wyoming. The 
forces of Butler and Stewart were rapidly aug- 
mented by recruits from Connecticut ; and several 
military works were commenced by the besiegers, 



176 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

to hasten the reduction of Ogden's garrison. For 
this purpose two redoubts were thrown up, one of 
them upon the bank below Fort Wyoming, and 
the other upon a bold eminence above, projecting 
almost into the river, and entirely commanding the 
channel. Two entrenchments were likewise open- 
ed, and the fort was so completely invested that 
communication with the surrounding country was 
entirely cut off. But Ogden's garrison was well 
supplied with provisions and ammunition ; and his 
work too strong to be taken without artillery. 
Thus circumstanced, he conceived the bold design 
of escaping from the fort by stratagem, and pro- 
ceeding in person to Philadelphia for reinforce- 
ments — instructing his troops in any event to re- 
tain the post until his return. His plan was exe- 
cuted with equal courage and skill. On the night 
of July ] 2th he made up a light bundle to float 
upon the surface of the river, upon which he se- 
cured his hat. Connecting this bundle with his 
body by a cord of several yards in length, he drop- 
ped gently into the stream and floated down 
with the current — the bundle, which presented 
much the most conspicuous object, being intended 
to draw the fire should it be discovered. It was 
discovered by the sentinels, and a brisk fire direct- 
ed upon it from three redoubts. But as it appear- 
ed to hold the even tenor of its way without inter- 
ruption from the bullets, the firing ceased, and the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 177 

bundle and its owner escaped — the latter untouch- 
ed, but the former and less sensitive object pierc- 
ed with several bullets. 

John Penn having retired from the colony, the 
office of the Executive had now once more de- 
volved upon the Honorable James Hamilton, Pres- 
ident of the Council. Ogden arrived at Philadel- 
phia without delay, and on a representation of the 
situation of atTairs at Wyoming, vigorous efforts 
were set on foot for the succour of the besieged. 
A detatchment of one hundred- men was ordered 
to be raised to march upon the rebellious settlers, 
with the sheriff of Northampton, but under the com- 
mand of Colonel Asher Clayton. The detachment 
was to be divided into two companies, the one 
commanded by Captain Joseph Morris, and the 
other by Captain John Dick. They were to 
march to the scene of action by different routes, 
and at different times. But, as before, great dif- 
ficulty was experienced in raising the men ; and 
Captain Dick, who was to march first, was com- 
pelled to advance with only thirty-six men, en- 
cumbered by pack-horses and provisions not only 
for the whole division, but also for the relief of the 
besieged. The Connecticut forces, however, al- 
though maintaining the siege closely, were too 
vigilant to be taken by surprise. They had be- 
come aware of Ogden's escape and movements, 
and were apprised of the advance of Captain 



17S HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Dick, for whose reception every needful prepara- 
tion was made. Suddenly, therefore, on ap- 
proaching the fort he was to relieve, he found 
himself in the midst of an ambuscade. At the 
first fire his men ran to the fort for protection, but 
sixteen of them together with the entire stock of 
provisions, fell into the hands of the Connecticut 
forces. Ogden was of the number who succeeded 
in entering the fort, as also did Colonel Clayton. 
This affair happened on the 30th of July. Elated 
by their success, the assailants now pressed the 
siege more closely than before, until the 10th of 
August, keeping up a daily fire whenever any per- 
son of the garrison appeared in view. 

On the 11th Captain Butler sent a flag demand- 
ing a surrender ; but as the besieged had contri- 
ved to despatch another messenger to Philadelphia, 
with an account of Dick's misfortune, and praying 
for farther assistance, and as the government was 
endeavoring to raise and send forward another 
body of one hundred men, they refused the sum- 
mons, and the firing was resumed. Butler had no 
artillery, and a wooden cannon was constructed 
from a gnarled log of pepperidge, by a colonist 
named Carey, and mounted upon his battery. 
But it burst asunder at the second discharge. 
Still, the contest was closely maintained until 
the 14th, when, having been long upon short 
allowance, disappointed in not receiving the prom- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 179 

ised reinforcements, and their provisions being 
entirely exhausted, the garrison surrendered. The 
articles of capitulation were signed by Zebulon 
Butler, Lazarus Stewart and John Smith, on the 
part of the besiegers, and by Colonel Asher Clay- 
ton, Joseph Morris and John Dick, in behalf of 
the Proprietaries. The stipulations w^ere, " that 
twenty-three men might leave the fort armed, 
and with the remainder unarmed, might proceed 
unmolested to their respective habitations ; that 
the men having families might abide on the deba- 
teable land for two weeks, and might remove their 
effects without interruption ; and that the sick and 
wounded might retain their nurses, and have leave 
to send for a physician."* 

It afterward appeared that at the time of the 
surrender, a detachment of sixty men had arrived 
within ten miles of the fort, commanded by Cap- 
tain Ledlie ; but having heard of the surrender, 
the Captain wisely concluded to make a different 
disposition of his company. Numbers of the gar- 
rison were wounded during the siege, among 
whom was Amos Ogden, severely. While he was 
leaning upon the arm of one of his subalterns, 
William Ridyard, the latter was struck by a ball, 
and killed instantly. The loss of the Connecticut 
forces, in killed and wounded, was a matter which 
appears not to have been divulged. By the terms 

*Gordon. 



180 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

of the capitulation, Ogden and his party were all 
to remove from Wyoming.* 

In the month of September following, Mr. Ham- 
ilton gave a detailed account of these proceedings 
to the legislature — informing that body that the 
intruders had burnt the block-house, and were for- 
tifying themselves upon a more advantageous po- 
sition. It was determined by the council that a 
correspondence should be opened with the Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut upon the subject, which was 
accordingly done. The President informed Gov- 
ernor Trumbull that the intruders had assumed to 
act under the authority of the state of Connecti- 
cut. The latter replied cautiously, denying that 
the Connecticut people were acting under any di- 
rections from him, or from the General Assembly — 
neither of whom would countenance any acts of 
violence for the maintenance of any supposed 
rights of the Susquehanna Company. 

Thus closed the operations of the respective 
parties for the year 1771. The Connecticut colo- 
nists increased so rapidly, and prepared themselves 
so amply for defence, that the Pennsylvania forces 
were all withdrawn, and the Susquehanna Com- 
pany left in the quiet possession of the valley. 

* Gordon asserts that during this seige, Butler proposed to Colonel Clay- 
ton that the rights of the respective claimants should be determined by 
combat, between thirty men to be chosen from each side. But the propo- 
sition was rejected. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Government of Wyoming — Thorouglily democratic,— Attempted media- 
tion with the Pennsylvanians — Failure — Opinions of English counsel, — 
Connecticut asserts jurisdiction, — Opposition of Governor Penn, — Pro- 
clamations, — Season of repose, — Another Civil War, — Destruction of the 
Connecticut settlement on the West Branch, — Interposition of Con- 
gress,— Not heeded, — Expedition and repulse of Colonel Plunkett, — Re- 
linquishment of the contest,— War of the Revolution,— Letting loose of 
the Indians, — Defenceless situation of Wyoming, — Invasion by the lo- 
ries and Indians, — Hasty preparations for defence, — The colonists re- 
solve to attackj — The Battle and Masscicre, — The Capitulation, — Rava- 
gingof the valley, — Vindication of Brant, — Cruelties of the tories, — Flight 
of the people, — Vindication of Colonel Zebulon Butler, — His character, — 
Vindication of Colonel Dennison, — Captain Spalding, — Second invasion, 
— Aftair of Colonel Powell, — Sullivan's Expedition,— Subsequent battles 
and skirmishes with the Indians. 

Thus far the government of the Connecticut 
settlers — that is to say, all the government that 
was exercised, — had been of a voluntary and mil- 
itary character. But the cessation of all opposition 
to the proceedings of the Susquehanna Company, 
for the time, on the part of Pennsylvania, rendered 
the longer continuance of martial law inexpedient, 
while by the rapid increase of the population it 
became necessary that some form of civil govern- 
ment should be adopted. The increasing irritation 
existing between the parent government and the 
colonies, already foreshadowing an approaching 
18 



182 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

appeal to the ultima ratio regum, had taught the 
directors of the company that a charter for a new 
and distinct colonial government from the crown, 
was not to be expected. In this exigency, the 
company applied to the General Assembly of Con- 
necticut, to have their Wyoming settlements taken 
under the protection of the colony until the plea- 
sure of his majesty should be known. But the 
General Assembly was in no haste to extend its 
gegis over so broad a territory, at so great a dis- 
tance from home."* They therefore advised the 
company in the first instance to attempt an ami- 
cable adjustment of their difficulties with the Pro- 
prietaries of Pennsylvania ; offering to undertake 
the negotiation in their behalf. In case of a fail- 
ure to obtain a just and honorable arrangement, 
the General Assembly next suggested a reference 
of the whole subject to the king in council. Mean- 
time, while they wished the colony God speed, 
they advised them to govern themselves by them- 
selves, in the best manner they could. 

Pursuant to this advice, the inhabitants of the 
valley proceeded to elect a government of their 
own ; and the institutions established by them 
were the most thoroughly democratic, probably, of 
any government that has ever existed elsewhere 

* The territory claimed by the Susquehanna Company, extended one 
hundred miles north and south, and one hundred and ten miles west of the 
river. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 183 

among civilized men. '^ They laid out townships, 
founded settlements, erected fortifications, levied 
and collected taxes, passed laws for the direction 
of civil suits, and for the punishment of crimes 
and misdemeanors, established a militia, and pro- 
vided for the common defence and general welfare 
of the colony."* The supreme legislative power 
was vested directly in the people, not by represen- 
tation, but to be exercised by themselves, in their 
primary meetings and sovereign capacity. A ma- 
gistracy was appointed, and all the necessary ma- 
chinery for the government of towns, according to 
the New-England pattern, organized and put in 
motion. Three courts were instituted, all having 
civil and criminal jurisdiction ; but the Court of 
Appeals, called the Supreme Court, to which every 
case might be carried, was formed, like their legis- 
lature, of the people themselves in solemn assem- 
bly convened. 

Under this government the people lived very 
happily, and the colony advanced with signal pros- 
perity for two years. During this time the Gene- 
ral Assembly of Connecticut had made an honest 
effort to negotiate a settlement between the Com- 
pany and the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, but 
in vain. An able commission had been sent to 
Philadelphia, consisting of Colonel Eliphalet Dyer, 

* Chapman. 



184 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Doctor Johnson and J. Strong ; but Governor Penn 
would not listen to their propositions, although 
they were of the most equitable description. Upon 
this refusal, even to acknowledge the commission, 
the General assembly caused a case to be made up 
and transmitted to England for the ablest legal 
opinions that could be obtained. This case was 
submitted to Edward, afterward Lord Thurlow, 
Alexander Wedderburn, Richard Jackson, and J. 
Dunning, — all famous for their learning in the 
law, who gave a united opinion in favor of the 
Company. Thus fortified, the General Assembly 
of Connecticut took higher ground, and perceiv- 
ing how greatly the colony was flourishing, in 
October, 1773, they passed a resolution asserting 
their claim to the jurisdiction of the territory, and 
their determination in some proper way to support 
the claim.* The Company now renewed their 
application to be taken into the Colony of Con- 
necticut, in which request the General Assembly 
acquiesced, and the entire territory was erected 
into a chartered town, called Westmoreland, and 
attached to the county of Litchfield. The laws 
of Connecticut were extended over the settlement ; 
representatives from Westmoreland were admitted 
to sit in the General Assembly ;f and Zebulon 
Butler and Nathan Denniston were regularly com- 

* Trumbull. f Idem. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 185 

missioned justices of the peace. All necessary re- 
gulations for the due administration of the local 
affairs of the settlements were made ; new town- 
ships were opened and entered upon by emigrants, 
and the colony advanced with unprecedented 
prosperity. Govornor Penn and his Council be- 
held these movements with high displeasure, and 
sundry proclamations were issued forbidding the 
people to obey the laws and authorities of Con- 
necticut ; but these paper missives were no more 
regarded than would have been an equal number 
of vermilion edicts from the Emperor of China. 

Two years more of repose were enjoyed by the 
colonists of the Company, during which they flour- 
ished to a degree that could scarcely have been 
anticipated by their principals. The valley was 
laid out into townships five miles square, and un- 
der the hand of industry, the teeming soil soon 
made it to smile in beauty like a little paradise. 
The town immediately adjoining the Wyoming 
Fort, was planted by Colonel Durkee, and named 
WiLKESBARRE, iu Iiouor of Johu WUkcs and Col- 
onel Barre, as heretofore mentioned. But in the 
autumn of 1775, just at the moment when the 
Hercules of the new world was grappling with the 
giant power of Great Britain, the torch of civil 
war was again lighted by the people of Pennsyl- 
vania. Among the settlements of the Connecticut 
people, which had been pushed beyond the con- 
18* 



186 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



fines of the valley of Wyoming, was one upon the 
West Branch of the Susquehanna, uniting with 
the main stream at Northumberland, about sixty 
miles below. On the 28th of September, 1775, 
this plantation was attacked by a body of the 
Northumberland militia, who, after killing one man, 
and wounding several others, made prisoners of 
the residue of the settlers, and conducted them 
to Sunbury, where they were thrown into prison. 
The tedium and vexation of their confinement 
was measurably relieved for a season, however, 
by the drollery of one of their number, — an active 
and vivacious young man named Benjamin Bidlack, 
of whom more will be related hereafter. He was 
not only, like the Yorick of Hamlet, ''a fellow of 
infinite humor," but athletic and strong — at least as 
strong as the shorn Samson. And as with Samson, 
the Philistines into whose hands he fell would fain, 
from day to day, bring Bidlack forth to make them 
sport. He sang capital songs, among which was 
one called " The Swaggering Man," each verse 
ending — 

"And away went the swaggering man." 

This was a favorite song with the captors, and 
they urged him repeatedly to sing it — which he 
very cheefully did — for he was as full of fun as 
any of them — insisting, however, that they must 
enlarge their circle, and give him space " to act 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 187 

the part." And this he did to admiration — at 
least in one instance. Having by his conduct al- 
layed all suspicion of sinister intentions, and indu- 
ced his guards to give him ample room wherein 
to exercise his limbs while singing their favorite 
song, as he sang the last line — 

" And away went the swaggering man," 

suiting the action to the words, he sprang from 
the circle like a leaping panther, and bounded 
away with a fleetness that distanced competition, 
and gained his liberty. 

At about the same time when Bidlack and his 
companions were taken to Sunbury, a number of 
boats, trading down the river from Wyoming, were 
attacked and plundered by the Pennsylvanians. 
These acts of course produced immediate and ex- 
treme indignation on the part of the Connecticut 
colonists 

But instead of seizing their arms at once, and 
rushing to the liberation of their imprisoned friends, 
they petitioned the Provincial Congress, then in 
session, to interpose for the adjustment of the con- 
troversy. On the 9th of November the petition 
was considered by Congress, and a conciliatory 
resolution, with a suitable preamble, was adopted, 
setting forth the danger of internal hostilities in 
that critical conjuncture of the affairs of the Amer- 
ican colonies, and urging the governments of Penn- 



18S HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

sylvania and Connecticut to the adoption of the 
most speedy and effectual measures to prevent such 
hostihties.* 

The voice of Congress, however, was unheeded, 
and the imprisonment of the settlers from the West 
Branch was rendered more rigid than before. Ap- 
prehensions were moreover excited among the 
people of Northumberland, that the chafed inhab- 
itants of Wyoming might make a descent upon 
Sunbury, liberate their friends and fire the town. 
Whether these apprehensions were caused by ac- 
tual threats, or by a sense of their own wrong do- 
ing, cannot be predicated ; but one of the conse- 
quences was a proposition, by a Colonel Plunkett 
of Northumberland, to raise a force and march 
against Wyoming for its immediate conquest and 
subjugation. The proposal was listened to by the 
Governor, and orders were issued to Plunkett to 
raise the necessary forces, and execute his purpose 
by the expulsion of the Connecticut settlers. 

Plunkett was himself a civil magistrate, as well 
as a colonel ; but in order to impart to the expe- 
dition a civil rather than a military character, 
the army was called the '^ Posse " of the county, 
and the colonel was accompanied by the sheriff. 
The number of men raised for the service was 
seven hundred, well provisioned, and amply fur- 

* Journals of the old Conffress. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 1S9 

nished with military stores, which latter w^ere em- 
barked upon the river in boats. 

These formidable preparations gave no small 
degree of uneasiness to Congress, yet in session in 
Philadelphia, and resolutions were immediately 
passed, urging the Pennsylvanians at once to de- 
sist from any farther hostile proceedings, to liber- 
ate the prisoners that had been taken, and restore 
all private property that had been detained ; and 
in a word to refrain from any and every hostile 
act, until the dispute between the parties could be 
legally decided.* But these resolutions comman- 
ded no more respect from the Pennsylvanians, eith- 
er the government or the people, than the others. 
Plunkett, who had already commenced his march, 
pursued his course. Winter, however, was ap- 
proaching ; the boats were impeded in their pro- 
gress by a swollen torrent, bearing masses of ice 
upon its surface ; and the troops could not of 
course proceed in advance of their supplies. The 
advance of the invaders, therefore, was as deliber- 
ate as those who were to be attacked could desire. 

It was near the close of December w^hen Colo- 
nel Plunkett reached the Nanticoke rapids, in the 
narrow mountain defile through which the Sus- 
quehanna rushes on its escape from Wyoming, and 
the obstructions of which were so great, that the 
boats could not be propelled any farther. Detach- 

* Journals of Congress, 



190 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ing a guard, therefore, for the protection of his 
supphes, the Colonel continued his march by the 
road on the west side of the river, which winds 
along by the bases of the mountains, whose rocky 
battlements at times hang impending over it. Af- 
ter emerging from the gorge, and entering the 
valley, the prospect, on that side of the river, is at 
one point nearly intercepted by a large rock pro- 
jecting from a spur of the Shawanese Mountain, 
and extending nearly to the edge of the river. 

Entering the valley from the south, this rock, 
or ledge, presents a formidable perpendicular front, 
as even as though it were a structure of hewn 
mason-work. The road winds along at the base 
of the ledge, turning its projection close by the 
river. The Colonel was somewhat startled as he 
came suddenly in view of this gigantic defence ; 
nor was his surprise diminished by a second glance, 
which taudit him that the extended brow of the 
rock had been fortified, while a volley of musketry 
told him farther, that this most unexpected fortifi- 
cation was well garrisoned. 

The whole passage of the defile at the Nanti- 
coke falls presents exactly such a geological con- 
formation as it would delight a Tyrolese popula- 
tion to defend ; and the Yankees of Wyoming had 
not been blind to the advantages which nature had 
here supplied for arresting the approach of the in- 
vader. The fire had been given too soon for 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 191 

much effect ;* but it served to throw the forces 
of Plunkett into confusion, and an immediate re- 
treat behind another mountainous projection, for 
consukation, w^as the consequence. The hazard 
of turning the point of the battlemented Shaw- 
anese rock, defended by an enemy of unknown 
strength, thus securely posted, was too great to be 
entertained. It was therefore determined, by the 
aid of a batteau brought past the rapids by land 
for that purpose, to cross the river and march up- 
on the fort of Wyoming along the eastern shore. 

Immediate dispositions were made for executing 
this change in the plan of the campaign ; but on 
the approach of the batteau to the opposite side 
with the first detachment of the invaders, headed 
by Colonel Plunkett himself, a sharp fire from an 
ambuscade gave unequivocal evidence that their 
every possible movement had been anticipated. 
This ambuscade was commanded by Lieutenant 
Stewart, who had reserved his fire until the inva- 
ders were leaping on shore. One man was killed 
by the first fire, and several others wounded. So 
warm a reception upon both sides of the river had 
not been foreseen. The boat was therefore in- 



* Gordon affirms that this volley killed one man, and dangerously wound- 
ed three others of Plunkett's party. He also states that Colonel Plunkett 
was at first met in an amicable manner, by a party of the settlers, under 
one of their leaders, and that he assured them his only object was to arrest 
the persons named in his warrants, protesting that he would offer violence 
to no one submitting to the laws. 



192 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

stantly pushed from the land, and without attemp- 
ting to regain the shore whence they had embarked, 
was suffered to drift down the stream and over the 
rapids, to the fleet of provision boats below. The 
chivalrous Colonel, being a peace officer, lay down 
in the bottom of the boat to avoid the shots that 
were sent after him. His troops on the western 
side, however, attempted to cover his retreat, by 
firing at random into the thicket where Stewart 
had posted his men. By one of these chance shots 
a man named Bowen was killed at the instant when 
he was raising himself above the breast-work to 
fire upon the enemy. 

Plunkett's entire force now fell back upon the 
boats where another council of war took place. 
To attempt to force the passage of the terrific 
rock, frowning in its own strength, and bristling 
with bayonets besides, was evidently impractica- 
ble. It could not be carried by assault, for want 
of two articles, — courage and scaling ladders. — 
To march around the point the garrison would 
not allow them. And to avoid the difficulty by 
threading the ravines of the mountains in the rear 
on either side, would be a yet more dangerous 
undertaking, inasmuch as the Yankees might not 
only use their fire-arms, but also tumble the rocks 
down upon their heads and ignominiously crush 
them to death. In addition to all which, it was 
now evident that even should they be successful 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 193 

in sitting down before the fort of Wyoming, and 
opening their entrenchments, the works would 
not be very easily taken ; while their own situa- 
tion, by the destruction of their boats, and the 
cutting off of their supplies, and in sundry other 
respects, might be rendered exceedingly uncom- 
fortable. Under such an accumulation of unto- 
ward circumstances and forbidding prospects, dis- 
cretion was wisely esteemed the better part of 
valor, and the expedition was abandoned. 

With this unsuccessful effort '' terminated the 
endeavors of the Executive of Pennsylvania to 
expel, by force, her troublesome inmates. They 
had become very numerous, and had extended 
themselves over a large tract of country, upon 
which they had planted and built with great suc- 
cess. Possession, by lapse of time, was growing 
into right, to preserve which, it was obvious, the 
possessors had resolved to devote their lives. Forci- 
ble ejection would therefore be followed with much 
bloodshed, and wide-extended misery, which 
would tend greatly to weaken the efforts of the 
two colonies in the common cause against Great 
Britain."* 

For a season after the breaking out of the war 
of the revolution, Wyoming was allowed a state 



* Gordon. 

19 



.194 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

of comparative repose. The government of Penn- 
sylvania w^as changed by the removal of the Pro- 
prietaries, or successors of Penn, and the forma- 
tion of a new constitution ; and both Connecticut 
and Pennsylvania had other and more important 
demands upon their attention than the disputes of 
rival claimants for a remote and sequestered terri- 
tory. A census was taken, and the whole popula- 
tion of the several towns of the valley, now ac- 
knowledging the jurisdiction of Connecticut, was 
computed at about two thousand five hundred 
souls.* Two companies of regular troops were 
raised, under resolutions of Congress, commanded 
by Captains Ransom and Durkee, of eighty-two 
men each. These companies were mustered and 
counted as part of the Connecticut levies, and at- 
tached to the Connecticut line. They were, more- 
over, efficient soldiers, having been engaged in the 
brilliant affair of Millstone, the bloody and unto- 

* chapman, who resided in Wyoming at the time he wrote his history, 
twenty-five years ago, states the number of inhabitants at five thousand, and 
go does Marshall. But in a recent appeal to the legislature of Connecticut 
by a committee trom Wyoming, drawn up by the Hon. Charles Miner, for 
more than forty years a resident of that place, the population at that period 
is stated at 2500. Considering the number of soldiers raised for the regular 
service there, and the number killed in the massacre, twenty-five hundred 
seems too small ; but in answer to an objection raised by the author, Mr. 
Miner writes — "In 1773 there were 430 taxables ; allowing five inhabi- 
tants to each taxable, will give 2150. In 1777, a new oath of allegiance 
was required by Connecticut of every freeman. We have the recorded 
list returned by all the justices ; the number is 269. Add for these with 
the army 100, for many in the service were not of age, and it will make 
369. Multiply this by six gives 2214 inhabitants. The number did not 
exceed 2500." 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 195 

ward battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and 
in the terrible cannonade of Mud-bank. 

Notwithstanding the remoteness of its position, 
and its peculiar exposure to the attacks of the en- 
emy, rendered more perilous from its contiguity to 
the territory of the Six Nations, and the readiness 
with which a descent could be made upon them 
by the way of the Susquehanna, the people of 
Wyoming were prompt to espouse the cause of 
their country, and as early as the first of August, 
1775, in town meeting, they voted " that we will 
unanimously join our brethren of America in the 
common cause of defending our country." In the 
month of August in the following year it was 
voted " that the people be called upon to work on 
the forts, without either fee or reward from the 
town." And in 1777 the people passed a vote 
empowering a committee of inspectors '' to supply 
the soldiers' wives, and the soldiers' widows, and 
their families, with the necessaries of life."* 

But the unanimity asserted in the first resolu- 
tion cited above must have been a figurative 
expression, since, unhappily, there were loyalists 
in Wyoming, as elsewhere. The civil wars, 
moreover, had left many bitter feelings to rankle 
in the bosoms of such as had been actively en- 
gaged in those feuds. Added to which, in the 

* MS. records of Westmoreland, in the possession of Charles Miner. 



196 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

exuberance of their patriotism, between twenty 
and thirty suspected citizens were seized by the 
Whigs, and dragged over the woods and moun- 
tains into Connecticut, for imprisonment. Nine of 
these men were discharged immediately, and in a 
few days the residue were set at Uberty for want 
of proof to warrant their detention. They all 
speedily thereafter found their way into, the ranks 
of the enemy in Canada — among the Tory 
rangers of Sir John Johnson and Colonel John 
Butler. These points are stated thus minutely, be- 
cause they are essential to a just understanding of 
the darker features of the history that is to follow. 
The Indians of the Six Nations were not 
brought actively into the field against the Ameri- 
cans until the summer of 1777. From that moment, 
the whole extended frontiers of the colonies, 
reaching from Lake Champlain round the North- 
west and South to the Floridas, were harrassed 
by the savages. Wyoming, however, did not im- 
mediately suffer so severely as many other border 
settlements. Some straggling parties of Indians, 
it is true, hung about the valley, while General 
St. Leger was besieging Fort Stanwix ; but after 
a few skirmishes with the inhabitants, they with- 
drew, and the people were not again disturbed 
during that year, save in two or three instances in 
the autumn. On one of these occasions, Mr. — after- 
ward Lieutenant John Jenkins, Jun., — visiting 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 167 

the upper part of the Wyoming valley, was met 
by a hostile party, taken to Niagara, and thence 
to Montreal, whence he was exchanged in 177S. 
At the time of his capture, the same party of loy- 
alists took prisoner an old man named Fitzgerald. 
Placing him upon an elevated seat, they required 
of him a renunciation of his rebel-principles, and 
an acknowledgment of allegiance to the King, 
threatening death if he refused. " I am an old 
man," replied the silvery-headed patriot, " and 
can live but a few years at most. I would rath- 
er die now, and die a friend to my country, than 
live a few years longer and then die a tory."* It 
was bravely said, and even the enemy must have 
regarded the old man with reverence, for their 
threat was not executed. 

But no small degree of uneasiness was created 
early in 177S, by the conduct of the loyalists yet 
remaining in the valley. These apprehensions, 
however, were allayed for a time, by messages of 
peace received from the Indians. But these mes- 
sages were deceptive, as was ascertained in March 
by the confessions of one of them, who, while in 
a state of partial intoxication, revealed their real 
purposes. They had sent their messengers to 
Wyoming merely to lull the inhabitants into such 
a state of security as would enable them to strike 

* Statement of Elisha Harding— Wyoming Memorial to Congress^ 

19* 



198 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



a surer blow. The party to which the drunken 
Indian belonged, was thereupon arrested and de- 
tained, while the women were allowed to depart. 
It was not long before the inhabitants of the out- 
er settlements, — especially those some thirty miles 
distant, upon the river north, — were grievously 
annoyed, and many of them clustered in upon the 
older and larger towns. In April and May, the 
savages hanging upon the outskirts became yet 
more numerous, and more audacious, committing 
frequent robberies, and in June several murders. 
Thenceforward, " their pathways were ambushed, 
and midnight was often red with the conflagration 
of their dwellings."* 

There were no settlements contiguous to Wyo- 
ming, upon which the people might call for aid in 
case of sudden emergency. It was not merely an 
outpost, but was an isolated community, almost 
embosomed in the country of a savage enemy. To 
Sunbury, the nearest inhabited post down the Sus- 
quehanna, it was sixty miles ; through the great 
swamp, and over the Pokono range of mountains 
to the settlements on the Delaware, a pathless wil- 
derness, it was also sixty miles. The Six Nations, 
ever the most to be dreaded upon the war-path, 
occupied all the upper branches of the Susque- 
hanna, and were within a few hours' sail of the 

* Memorial to the Le"islature of Connecticut. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 199 

plantations.* Thus situated, there had been a 
conventional understanding between the govern- 
ment and the people of Wyoming, that the regu- 
lar troops enlisted among them should be stationed 
there, for the defence of the valley ; but the exi- 
gencies of the service required their action else- 
where, and not only were they ordered away, but 
other enlistments were made, to the number, in 
all, of about three hundred. The only means of 
defence remaining consisted of militia-men, the 
greater proportion of whom were either too old or 
too young for the regular service. And yet upon 
these men devolved the duties of cultivating the 
lands to obtain subsistence for the settlements, and 
likewise of performing regular garrison duty in 
the little stockade defences which were dignified 
by the name of forts, and of patrolling the out- 
skirts of the settlements, and exploring the thick- 
ets, in order to guard against surprise from the 
wily Indians, and their yet more vindictive tory 
allies. 

There were some six or seven of those defences 
called forts, but consisting only of stockades, or 
logs, planted upright in the earth, and about four- 
teen feet high, the enclosures within which served 
also as places of retreat for the women and chil- 
dren in seasons of alarm. They had no artillery 

* Memorial to the Legislature of Connecticut. 



200 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

save a single four-pounder, kept at Wilkesbarre, as 
an alarm-gun, and their only means of defence, 
therefore, consisted of small arms, not always in 
the best order, as is ever the case with militia. 
Thus weakened by the absence of its most effi- 
cient men, and otherwise exposed, Wyoming pre- 
sented a point of attack too favorable to escape 
the attention of the British and Indian command- 
ers in the country of the Six Nations, and in Can- 
ada. They were also, beyond doubt, stimulated 
to undertake an expedition against it by the ab- 
sconding loyalists, who were burning with a much 
stronger desire to avenge what they conceived to 
be their own wrongs, than with ardor to serve 
their king. 

Under these circumstances, the ever memorable 
expedition of Colonel John Butler, with his own 
Tory Rangers, a detachment of Sir John John- 
son's Royal Greens, and a large body of Indians, 
chiefly Senecas, was undertaken against AVyo- 
ming early in the summer of 1778, and, alas ! 
was but too successful. The forces of the inva- 
ders are estimated by some authorities at eleven 
hundred, seven hundred of whom were Indians. 
Other accounts compute the Indians at four hun- 
dred. Opposed to these forces were a company 
of some forty or fifty regulars, under Captain 
Hewitt, and such numbers of the militia, hereto- 
fore described, as could be hastily collected. Boys 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 201 

and old men, fathers and sons, aged men and 
grandfathers, were obliged to snatch such weap- 
ons as were at hand, and take the field at the 
warning of a moment. Nor were the so-called 
regulars under Captain Hewit, regulars in the 
proper acceptation of the term. The Captain 
had but recently received his commission, with 
directions to recruit at Wyoming. He had en- 
listed these forty or fifty men, who were obliged 
to find their own arms ; and having had but a 
short and indifferent experience in martial exer- 
cise, when the enemy came they were militia men 
still, though not such in name. The expedition of 
the enemy moved from Niagara, across the Gene- 
see country, and down the Chemung river to Tioga 
Point, whence they embarked upon the Susque- 
hanna, and landed about twenty miles above Wy- 
oming — entering the valley through a notch from 
the west, about a mile below the head of the val- 
ley, and taking possession of a small defence call- 
ed Wintermoot, after the name of its proprietor, 
an opulent loyalist of that town.^ Colonel John 

* Among the papers of Colonel Zebulon Butler, Mr. Miner has discov- 
ered a document labelled, " A list of Tories who joined the Indians." 
There are sixty-one names on the list, but of these there were but three 
New-England men. Most of them were transient persons, or laborers ; 
or men who had gone to Wyoming as hunters and trappers. Six are of 
one family — the Wintermoots ; four were named Secord ; three were 
Pawlings : three Lanaways ; and four Van Mstynes. It is not believed 
that there were more than twenty or twenty-five tory families. Nine of 
them were from the Mohawlt valley, who were probably sent thither by 
the Johnsons to poison the settlement if possible, or as spies. Four of 



202 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Butler established his head quarters at this place, 
and thence, for several days, scouts and foraging 
parties were sent out, for observation and to col- 
lect provisions. The enemy's arrival at Fort Win- 
termoot, which stood on the bank of the river, 
was on the 2d of July. 

The dark and threatening sayings of a drunken 
Indian, as already stated, had awakened some sus- 
picions that an attack was meditated by the enemy 
in the course of the season, and a message had been 
sent to the head quarters of the continental army 
early in June, praying for a detachment of troops 
for their protection. To this request no answer had 
been received. To fly, however, with their women 
and children, with an agile enemy upon their very 
heels, was impossible, even had the thought been 
entertained. But it was not. " Retirement or 
fliglit was alike impossible, and there was no 
^security but in victory. Unequal as was the con- 
flict, therefore, and hopeless as it was in the eye of 
prudence, the young and athletic men, fit to bear 
arms, and enlisted for their special defence, being 
absent with the main army ; yet the inhabitants, 
looking to their dependent wives, mothers, sisters, 
little ones, took counsel of their courage, and 



them were from Kinderhook ; six from the county of Westchester, (N. Y.) 
The Wiutermoots were from JVlinisink, There were not ten tory fami- 
lies who had resided two 3'ears in Wyoming. — Letter to the Author from 
Charles Mintr. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 203 

resolved to give the enemy battle."* Having such 
treasures to defend, in addition to the great pend- 
ing question of National existence and liberty, they 
felt strong confidence that they should be able to 
repel the invader. No sooner, therefore, was 
the presence of the enemy known, than the mili- 
tia rapidly assembled at the old defence, " Fort 
Forty," so frequently mentioned in the preced- 
ing narrative of the civil wars, which was situ- 
ated immediately on the west bank of the river, 
some three miles north of Wilkesbarre. Small 
garrisons of aged men were left in the other 
feeble forts of the colonists, for the protection of 
the women and children assembled therein, while 
the majority of those capable of bearing arms, old 
men and boys, fathers, grand-fathers and grand- 
sons, assembled at Fort Forty, to the number of 
nearly four hundred. 

Colonel Zebulon Butler, heretofore mentioned 
as a soldier in the French war, and as being placed 
in the commission of the peace, was now an officer 
in the continental army, and happening to be at 
home at the time of the invasion, on the invitation 
of the people he accepted the command. A coun- 
cil of war was called on the morning of the 3rd of 
July, to determine upon the expediency of march- 
ing out and giving the enemy battle, or of await- 

* Memorial to the Legislature of Connecticut. 



204 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ing his advance. There were some who preferred 
delay, in the hope that a reinforcement would ar- 
rive from the camp of General Washington. Oth- 
ers maintained that as no advices had been received 
thence in reply to their application, the mes- 
senger had probably been cut off; and as the 
enemy's force was constantly increasing, they 
thought it best to meet and repel him at once if 
possible. The debates were warm ; and before 
they were ended, five commissioned officers, who, 
hearing of the anticipated invasion had obtained 
permission to return for the defence of their fami- 
lies, joined them. Their arrival extinguished the 
hope of present succor by reinforcements from the 
main army, and the result of the council was a 
determination for an immediate attack. 

As soon as the proper dispositions could be 
made, Colonel Zebulon Butler placed himself at 
the head of the undisciplined force, and led them 
forward, the design being to take the enemy by 
surprise. And such would probably have been 
the issue, but for the occurrence of one of those 
untoward incidents against which human wisdom 
cannot guard. A scout, having been sent forward 
to reconnoitre, found the enemy at dinner, not 
anticipating an attack, and in high and frolick- 
some glee. But on his return to report the fact 
the scout was fired upon by a straggling Indian, 
who gave the alarm. The consequence was, that 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 205 

on the approach of the Americans, they found the 
enemy in hne ready for their reception. Colonel 
Zebulon Butler commanded the right of the Ameri- 
cans, aided by Major Garratt. The left was com- 
manded by Colonel Dennison, of the Wyoming 
militia, assisted by Lieut. Colonel Dorrance. Op- 
posed to the right of the Americans and also rest- 
ing upon the bank of the river, was Colonel John 
Butler, with his rangers. The right of the enemy, 
resting upon, or rather extending into, a marsh, 
was composed principally of Indians and tories, 
led by a celebrated Seneca chief named Gi-en- 
gwah-toh ; or, He-who-goes-in-the-SmoJce. The 
field of battle was a plain, partly cleared and 
partly covered with shrub oaks and yellow pines. 

The action began soon after four o'clock in the 
afternoon, and was for a time kept up on both 
sides with great spirit. The right of the Ameri- 
cans advanced bravely as they fired, and the best 
troops of the enemy were compelled to give back. 
But while the advantages were thus promising 
with the Americans on the right, far different was 
the situation of affairs on the left. Penetrating 
the thicket of the swamp, a heavy body of the In- 
dians were enabled, unperceived, to outflank Col. 
Dennison, and suddenly like a dark cloud to fall 
upon his rear. The Americans, thus standing 
between two fires, fell fast before the rifles of the 

Indians and tories, but yet they faltered not, until 
20 



206 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the order of Colonel Dennison to '^ fall back," for 
the purpose only of changing position, was mis- 
taken for an order to retreat. This misconception 
was fatal. The confusion instantly became so 
great that restoration to order was impossible. The 
enemy, not more brave, but better skilled in the 
horrid trade of savage war, and far more numer- 
ous withal, sprang forward, and as they made the 
air resound with their frightful yells, rushed upon 
the Americans, hand to hand, tomahawk and spear. 
But the handful of regulars and those who were 
not at first thrown into confusion did all that men 
could dare or achieve to retrieve the fortunes of 
the day. Observing one of his men to yield a 
little ground. Colonel Dorrance called to him with 
the utmost coolness — '' Stand up to your work, 
sir !" The Colonel immediately fell.* As the 
enemy obtained the rear, an officer notified Cap- 
tain Hewitt of the fact, and inquired, " Shall we 
retreat, sir ?" " Fll be d — d if I do," was his re- 
ply — and he fell instantly dead at the head of his 
little command. The retreat now became a flight, 
attended with horrible carnage, " We are nearly 
alone," said an officer named Westbrook — '' shall 
we go ?" " I'll have one more shot," said a Mr. 
Cooper, in reply. At the same instant a savage 
sprang toward him with his spear, but was brought 

* The Rer. John Dorrance, pastor of the. Prfsbyterian church In Wilkee- 
barre [in 1839] is a grand-son of Colonel Dorrance. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 207 

to the ground in his leap, and Cooper dehberately 
re-loaded his piece before he moved. He was one 
of the few who survived the battle. On the first 
discovery of the confusion on the left, Colonel 
Zebulon Butler rode into the thickest of the melee, 
exclaiming — "Don't leave me, my children I 
The victory will yet be ours." But numbers and 
discipline, and the Indians besides, were against 
the Americans, and their rout was complete. 

During the flight to Fort Forty, the scene was 
that of horrible slaughter. Nor did the darkness 
put an end to the work of death. No assault was 
made upon the fort that night ; but many of the 
prisoners taken were put to death by torture. The 
place of these murders w^as about two miles north 
of Fort Forty, upon a rock, around which the In- 
dians formed themselves in a circle. Sixteen of 
the prisoners, placed in a ring around a rock, near 
the river, were held by stout Indians, while the 
squaws struck their heads open with the tomahawk. 
Only one individual, a powerful man named Ham- 
mond, by a desperate effort, escaped. Seeing one 
after another of his fellows perish by the bloody 
hand of the insatiate squaw acting as executioner, 
Hammond sprang forward suddenly, and rushing 
through the circle, outstripped his pursuers, and 
w^as not retaken.* In a similar ring, a little far- 

*Lebbeus Hammond. He afterward removed to Tioga County, (N. Y.) 
where lie lived and died a very respectable citizen. 



203 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ther north of the rock, nine persons were murder- 
ed in the same way.* It has been said, both in 
tradition and in print, that the priestess of this 
bloody sacrifice was the celebrated Catharine Mon- 
tour, sometimes called Queen Esther, whose resi- 
dence was at Catharinestown, at the head of Sen- 
eca Lake. But the statement is improbable. 
Catharine Montour was a half-breed, who had been 
well educated in Canada. Her reputed father 
was one of the French governors of that province 
when appertaining to the crown of France, and 
she herself was a lady of comparative refinement. 
She was much caressed in Philadelphia, and min- 
gled in the best society .f Hence the remotest 
belief cannot be entertained that she was the He- 
cate of that fell night. A night indeed of terror, 
— described with truth and power by the bard of 
Gertrude, as the dread hour when— 

— " Sounds that mingled laugh, and shout, and scream 

To freeze the blood in one discordant jar, 

Rung the pealing thunderbolts of war. 

Whoop after whoop with rack the ear assailed, 

As if unearthly fiends had burst their bar; 

While rapidly the marksman's shot prevailed ; — 

And aye, as if for death, some lonely trumpet wailed !" 

When the numbers are taken into the account, 
the slaughter on this occasion was dreadful. The 
five officers who arrived from the continential ar- 

* Note in Silliman's Journal, vol. xviii. 

f Vide Whitham Marshe's Journal of a treaty with the Six Nations at 
Lancaster, in 1744. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 209 

my on the morning of the battle were all slain. 
Captain Hewitt, who fell, had a son in the battle 
with him, aged eighteen. Captain Aholiah Buck 
and his son, aged only fourteen, were both slain. 
Anderson Dana, the representative of the valley in 
the Connecticut legislature, had returned from the 
session just in season to fight and fall. His son- 
in-law, Stephen Whiting, who had been married 
to his daughter but a few months before, went in- 
to the battle with him, and was also slain. Two 
brothers, named Perrin and Jeremiah Ross, were 
slain in the battle."^ There w^as a large family 
named Gore, one of whom was with the continen- 
tial army. Those at home, five brothers and two 
brothers-in-law, went into the battle, and of these, 
five were dead upon the field at night, a sixth was 
wounded, and one only escaped unhurt. Of the 
family of Mr. Weeks, seven went into the battle, 
viz : five sons and sons-in-law, and two inmates. 
Not one of the number escaped. These are but 
a few instances of many, selected merely for the 
purpose of showing how general w^as the rush to 
the field, and how direful the carnage.f 

♦Brothers of General William Ross, who is yet living, (1840,) in Wyo- 
ming. 

t Among the officers killed in the battle, the following names have been 
preserved. Lieutenant Colonel George Dorrance : — Major Wait Garrett ; — 
Captains Dottrick Hewitt, Robert Durkee,* Aholiah Buck, Asa Whittlesey, 

Lazarus Stewart, Samuel Ransom,* James Bidlack, Geere, 

M'Kanachin, \Vigdon ; — Lieutenants, Timothy Pierce,* James 

Wells,* Elijah Shoemaker, Lazarus Stewart, 2d, Perin Ross,* Asa Stevens ; 

Ensigns, Asa Gore, Avery. J):^ Those marked (*) were the five 

who arrived from the Continential army on the morning of the battle. 

20* 



210 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

The closing scene of that memorable drama, 
was in terrible keeping with the bloody acts which 
had proceeded. Flushed with victory, the savage 
Senecas still pursued their victims, filling the val- 
ley with their wild screams, and rushing onward 
in overwhelming numbers. The few Americans 
who escaped the murderous conflict in the field, 
fled precipitately to Wilkesbarre Fort, where were 
gathered women and children, waiting the dread is- 
sue of the contest, with breathless anxiety. Their 
return only added to the dreadful consternation, 
already prevailing in the Fortress. Siezed with 
panic, at the idea of being cooped up there, with 
the certainty of meeting a ruthless destruction, if 
they remained, they fled to the mountains, and 
sought refuge in the recesses of a dreary swamp, 
called afterward, from the numbers who fell there, 
the '' Shades of Death." But an enemy was on 
their track, famihar with swamps, and expert in 
threading the deepest fastnesses. They were soon 
found, when the work of destruction recommenc- 
ed with a fiercer violence. To the few survivors 
this was " a night long to be remembered." Be- 
hind them they saw the flames spreading destruc- 
tion through the valley. On one side of them was 
the battle-field, on which lay their brave brethren 
weltering in their blood. Around them, the ago- 
nizing shriek proclaimed that the dreadful carnage 
w^as still going on. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 211 

*^ j^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 4^ ^ 

•Jt* ■7P' 'Tv' Tv* •Jt' TV" "Tr "Tr 

The fair fields of Wyoming presented a melan- 
cholly spectacle on the morning of the 4th. The 
pursuit of the Indians had ceased the preceding 
evening with the nightfall, and the work of death 
was completed by the tragedy at the Bloody Rock. 
But the sun arose upon the carcasses of the dead 
— not only dead but horribly mangled — strewn 
over the plain, from the point where the battle be- 
gan to Fort Forty. A few stragglers had at first . 
taken refuge in that defence, and by the morning 
light, all who had not been slain, or who had not 
betaken themselves to the mountains, had collect- 
ed within the Fort, before which Colonel John 
Butler with his motley forces appeared at an early 
hour, and demanded a surrender. It appears that 
some negotiations upon the subject of a capitula- 
tion had been interchanged the preceding evening, 
at Wintermoot's. Be that as in may, it was un- 
derstood that no terms would be hstened to by the 
enemy but that of the unconditional surrender of 
Colonel Zebulon Butler, and the small handful of 
regular troops, numbering only fifteen, who had 
escaped the battle, to the tender mercies of the 
Indians. Under these circumstances, means of 
escape for the Colonel and these fifteen men were 
found during the night. The former succeeded 
in making his way to one of the Moravian settle- 
ments on the Lehigh, and the latter fled to Sha- 
mokin. 



212 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

The little fort being surrounded by a cloud of 
Indians and tories, and having no means of de- 
fence, Colonel Dennison, now in command, yield- 
ed to the force of circumstances, and the impor- 
tunities of the women and children, and entered 
into articles of capitulation. By this it was mu- 
tually agreed that the inhabitants of the settle- 
ment should lay down their arms, the fort be de- 
molished, and the continental stores be delivered 
to the conquerors. The inhabitants of the settle- 
ment were to be permitted to occupy their farms 
peaceably, and without molestation of their persons. 
The loyalists were to be allowed to remain in the 
undisturbed possession of their farms, and to trade 
without interruption. Colonel Dennison and the in- 
habitants stipulated not again to take up arms during 
the contest, and Colonel John Butler agreed to use 
his utmost influence to cause the private property 
of the inhabitants to be respected. 

But the last-mentioned stipulation was entirely 
unheeded by the Indians, who were not, and per- 
haps could not be, restrained from the work of 
rapine and plunder. The surrender had no sooner 
taken place than they spread through the valley. 
Every house not belonging to a loyalist was plun- 
dered, and then laid in ashes. The greater part 
of the inhabitants, not engaged in the battle, men, 
women, and children, had fled to the mountains 
toward the Delaware ; and as the work of de- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 213 

struction was re-commenced, many others follow- 
ed the example. The village of Wilkesbarre con- 
sisted of twenty-three houses. It was burnt, and 
the entire population fled. No lives were taken 
by the Indians after the surrender ; but numbers 
of women and children perished in the dismal 
swamp on the Pokono range of mountains, in the 
flight which will be presently described. The 
whole number of people killed and missing was 
about three hundred.* 

Colonel Benjamin Dorrance, yet a resident of 
Wyoming, a gentleman of character and affluence, 
was a lad in Fort Forty at the time of its surreii- 

* Until the publication, year before last, of the Life of Brant, by the 
writer of the present work, it had been asserted in all history that that 
celebrated Mohawk chieftain was the Indian leader at Wyoming. He 
himself always denied any participation in this bloody expedition, and 
his assertions were corroborated by the British officers, when questioned 
upon the subject. But these denials, not appearing in history, relieved 
him not from the odium; and the " monster Brant " has been denounced, 
the world over, as the author of the massacre. In the work referred to 
above, the author took upon himself the vindication of the savage war- 
rior from the accusation, and, as he thought at the time, with success. A 
reviewer of that work, however, in the Democratic Magazine, who is un- 
derstood to be the Hon. Caleb Gushing of Massachusetts, disputed the 
point, maintaining that the vindication was not satisfactory. The author 
thereupon made a journey into the i^eneca country, and pushed the inves- 
tigation among the surviving chiefs and warriors of the Senecas engaged 
in that campaign. The result was a triumphant acquittal of Brant from 
all participation therein. The celebrated chief Captain Pollard, whose 
Indian name is Kauundoowand, a fine old warrior, was a young chief in 
that battle. He gave a full account of it, and was clear and positive in 
his declarations that Brant and the Mohawks were not engaged in that 
campaign at all. Their leader, he said, was Qi-en-gwah-toh, as already 
mentioned in the text, who lived many years afterward, and was 
succeeded in his chieftaincy by the late Young King- That point of 
history, therefore, may be considered as conclusively settled. 



214 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

der to Butler and the Indians, and remembers 
freshly the circumstances. He states that after 
the capitulation, the British regular troops march- 
ed into the fort by the northern or upper gateway, 
while Gi-en-gwah-toh and his Indians entered at 
the southern portal. Colonel Dorrance recollects 
well the look and conduct of the Indian leader. 
His nostrils distended, and his burning eyes flash 
ing like a basihsk's, as he glanced quickly to the 
right, and to the left, with true Indian jealousy and 
circumspection, lest some treachery or ambuscade 
might await them within the fort. But the powerful 
and the brave had fallen. Old age was there, totter- 
ing upon his crutches, and widowed women, with 
their helpless children clinging to their garments 
— sobbing in all the bitterness of a woe at which 
the ruthless savages mocked.* 

But after all, the greatest barbarities of this cele- 
brated massacre were committed by the tories. 
Many loyahsts, as has been already seen, had 
months before united themselves with the enemy 
at Niagara ; and on his arrival at the head of the 
valley, many more of the settlers joined his ranks. 

* " The Hazleton Travellers," by Charles Miner. I shall have frequent 
occasion to repeat this reference in the succeeding chapter, and it may be 
well to explain what is the work referred to. It is not a book, but a se- 
ries of historical essays, or rather colloquies, published by Mr Miner in 
the village paper of Wyoming, during the years 1837 and 1838. In these 
papers, the author introduces a party of strangers from Hazleton, who ac- 
company him in an imaginary journey through the valley, and to whom 
the author is supposed to recount its history In a series of familiar conver- 
sations. These papers have been of great value to the author. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 215 

These all fought with the most brutal ferocity 
against their former neighbors, and were guilty 
of acts of which even this distant contemplation 
curdles the blood. Of these acts two or three 
must suffice. During the bloody fight of the 3d, 
some of the fugitives plunged into the river and 
escaped to the opposite shore. A few landed 
upon Monockonock Island, having lost their arms 
in the flight, and were pursued thither. One of 
them was discovered by his own brother, who had 
espoused the side of the crown. The unarmed 
Whig fell upon his knees before his brother and 
offered to serve him as a slave forever, if he would 
but spare his life. But the fiend in human form 
was inexorable ; he muttered " you are a d — d 
rebel,^^ and shot him dead. This tale is too hor- 
rible for belief; but a survivor of the battle, a 
Mr. Baldwin, whose name will occur again, con- 
firmed its truth to the writer with his own lips. 
He knew the brothers well, and in August, 1839, 
declared the statement to be true.* 

A tradition is rehearsed, that, long after this un- 
paralled act of fratricide, the murderer, haunted 
by conscience, wandered back from Canada, 
whither he had fled, to the spot where the fearful 
deed was committed, and found there a grave, 
whence he could almost hear '' the voice of his 

* Vide also Chapman. 



216 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

brother's blood " crying yet for vengeance. The 
legend needs a voucher for its authenticity. But 
it has nevertheless been wrought into a metrical 
tale, by one of our country's gifted bards,* with 
thrilhng and powerful effect : The reader will not 
regret the interruption of the historical narrative 
while the story is reproduced in measures so spir- 
ited and beautiful : — 

THE DEATH OF THE FRATRICIDE. 

He stood on the brow of the well known hill, 
Its few gray oaks moan'd over him still — 
The last of that forest which cast the gloom, 
of its shadow at eve o'er his childhood's home ; 
And the beautiful valley beneath him lay 
With its quivering leaves, and its streams at play, 
And the sunshine over it all the while 
Like the golden shower of the Eastern Isle. 

He knew the rock with its clinging vine. 

And its gray top touch'd by the slant sunshine ; 

And the delicate stream which crept beneath^ 

Soft as the flow of an infant's breath ; 

And the flowers which leaned to the West wind's sigh, 

Kissing each ripple which glided by, 

And he knew eveiy valley and wooded swell, 

For the visions of childhood are treasured well ! 

Why shook the old man as his eye glanc'd down 
That narrow ravine where the rude clifls frown, 
With their shaggy brows and their teeth of stone. 
And their grim shade back from the sunlight thrown? 
What saw he there save the dreary glen, 
Where the shy fox crept from the eye of men, 
And the great owl sat on the leafy limb 
That the hateful sun might not look on him. ? 

* WhittieF. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 217 

Fix'd, glassy, and strange was tliat old man's eye ! 

As if a spectre was stealing by ! 

And glared it stilt on that narrow dell 

Where thicker and browner the twilight fell ; 

Yet at every sigh of the fitful wind, 

Or stirring of leaves in the wood behind, 

His wild glance wander'd the landscape o'er, 

Then fix'd on that desolate dell once more ! 

Oh ! who shall tell of the thovights which ran 
Through the dizzied brain of that gray old man? 
His childhood's home — and his fathers's toil — 
And his sister's kiss — and his mother's smile -^ 
And his brother's laugliter and gamesome mirth, 
At the village school and the winter hearth — 
The beautiful thoughts of his early time, 
Ere his heart grew dark with its later crime. 

And darker and wilder his visions came 
Of the deadly feud and the midnight flame, 
Of the Indian's knife with its slaughter red, 
Of the ghastly forms of the scalpless dead. 
Of his own fierce deeds in that fearful hour 
When the terrible Brant was forth in power, — ' 
And he clasp'd his hands o'er his burning eye, 
To shadow the vision which glided by. 

It came with the rush of the battle storm— i- 
With a brother's shaken and kneeling form. 
And his prayer for life when a brother's arm 
Was lifted above him for mortal harm. 
And the fiendish curse, and the groan of death, 
And the welling biood, and the gurgling breath, 
And the scalp torn off while each nerve could feel 
The wrenching hand and the jagged steel ! 

And the old man groan'd — for he satv, again. 
The mangled corse of his brother slain. 
As it lay where his hand had huri'd it then, 
At the shadow 'd foot of that learful glen ! 
And it rose erect, with the death-pang grim. 
And pointed its bloody finger at him ! — 
And his heart grew cold — and the curse of Cain 
Burn'd like a fire in the old man's brain ! 

21 



218 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Oh, Imd lie not seen tliat spcctro rise 
On tho blue of the coUl Cainuiiau skies '. 
From tlie lakes which sleep in tiie ancient wood, 
It hatl risen to whisper its tale ol" blood, 
And follow 'd his bark to the sombre shore, 
And glared by night throngii the wigwam door ; 
And here — on his own familiar hill — 
It rose on his hannted vision still ! 



Whose corse was that wliich the morrow's sun 
Through the opening boughs look'd calmly on ? 
There were those who bent o'er that rigid face 
Who well in its darken'd lines might trace 
The features of him who, traitor, tied 
From a brother whose blood himself had shed, 
And there — on the spot where he strangely died — 
They made the grave of the Fratricide ! 

Among tlie fugitives who plunged into the riv- 
er in their flight, was Captain Shoemaker. He 
was seen and recognized by a loyahst named Hen- 
ry Windecker, wliose family had been supplied 
with provisions in a time of scarcity by Shoema- 
ker. Windecker now called to him in a friendly 
manner, assuring him of protection if he would 
return to the shore. Conhding in the promise of 
a former neighbor, he did so ; but his life was the 
forfeit of his trust. As he regained the bank, 
Windecker received him with his left hand, and 
struck him dead to the earth with the tomahawk 
held in his right. 

There was another case, very similar to the pre- 
ceding, marked by equal turpitude — that of Wil- 
Hammond — a brother of the resolute Hammond 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 219 

vvlio escaped from the massacre of the "bloody 
rock."* Having escaped from the slaughter of 
the battle-ground to the river, across which lie 
was swimming for the island, he was hailed by a 
former neighbor, named Secord, now a tory in the 
ranks of the enemy. Previously to the war they 
had lived upon terms of the utmost intimacy, — 
often being engaged in the same labors in the field, 
and the same sports in the hours of relaxation. 
Secord's solicitation was of the most friendly 
kind, calculated at once to dispel all suspicion of 
treachery, and to inspire confidence. " Is that 
you. Bill Hammond," said he. " Yes," was the 
reply. Whereupon Secord advised him to return 
and promised him protection, to which the other 
answered, " No : I can swim across the river, and 
make my escape." " You cannot," rejoined Se- 
cord : " the Indians are on the opposite side and 
will certainly kill you. If you will return, I 
will claim you as a brother, and secure your 
life." Deceived by the apparent sincerity of his 
assurances, Hammond returned to the shore 
whence he had plunged into the stream. Secord 
stepped into the edge of the water to recieve him, 
and as he grasped with his left hand the right of 
his friend, with his own right hand he buried his 
hatchet in his head ! The scene of diabolical 

* Tliere were three brothers of this name in the battle. 



220 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

treachery was observed by a fugitive named Tubbs, 
lying close by in concealment, who ultimately es- 
caped and related the revolting circumstances » 
The body of Hammond floated down the river to 
Fort Forty, where it was discovered, recognized, 
and brought to the shore.f 

The fugitives generally crossed the mountains 
to Stroudsburg, where there was a small military 
post. Their flight was a scene of wide-spread 
and harrowing sorrow. Their dispersion being 
in an hour of the wildest terror, the people were 
scattered, singly, in pairs, and in larger groups, 
as chance separated, or threw them together, 
in tliat sad hour of peril and distress. Let the 
mind picture to itself a single group, flying from 
the valley to the mountains on the east, and climb- 
ing the steep ascent — hurrying onward, " filled 
with terror, despair and sorrow ; — the affiighted 
mother, whose husband has fallen ; — an infant on 
her bosom,— -a child by the hand,— an aged parent 
slowly climbing the rugged steep behind them ; — 
hunger presses them severely, — -in the rustling of 
every leaf they hear the approaching savage, — a 
deep and dreary wilderness before them, — the val- 
ley all in flames behind, — their dwellings and har- 
vests all swept away in this spring-flood of ruin, 
— the star of hope quenched in this blood-shower 

t Life of Major Van Gain pen, of whom, more in the sequel. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 221 

of savage vengeance."* There is no work of fan- 
cy in a sketch Hke this. Indeed it cannot ap- 
proach the reaUty. There were in one of these 
groups that crossed the mountain, — those of them 
that did not perish by the way, — one hundred 
women and children, and but a single man to aid, 
direct, and protect them. Their sufferings for 
food were intense. One of the surviving officers 
of the battle, who escaped by swimming the river, 
crossed the mountain in advance of many of 
the fugitives, and was active in meeting them 
with supplies. " The first we saw on emerging 
from the mountains," said a Mrs. Cooper, one of 
the fugitives, " was Mr. Hollenbach, riding full 
speed from the German settlement with bread: 
and O ! it was needed ; we had saved nothing, 
and were near perishing ; my husband had laid 
his mouth to the earth to lick up a little meal scat- 
tered by some one more fortunate. "f 

Mr. William Searle, whose father, Constant 
Searle, an aged man, was slain in the battle, being 
himself unable to go into the engagement because 
of a wound received in a skirmish with a party of 
Indians a few days before, was nevertheless obli- 
ged to make his way across the mountains, as the 

* The Ilazleton Travellers. 

f Mr. Hollenbach was a survivor of the battle, and in his escape swam 
the river naked. In this situation he was found by Solomon Hunt, a 
brother of Mrs. Mj'ers, who also swam the river, preserving his shirt and 
pantaloons. Giving Hollenbach one of these garments, they proceeded 
together to Wilkesbarre. — JVoie communicated by Rev, Dr. Peck. 

21* 



222 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

conductor of a party of twelve women and chil- 
dren. Captain Hewitt, commanding the compa- 
ny of new levies in the engagement, who bravely 
fell, refusing to retreat, was the son-in-law of Con- 
stant Searle. Many of the fugitives continued 
their journey back to Connecticut, ascending the 
Delaware and crossing over to the Hudson at 
Poughkeepsie. It was at this place that the first 
account of the massacre was published ; being col- 
lected from the lips of the panic-stricken and suf- 
fering fugitives, and full of enormous exaggera- 
tions such as the alleged massacre of women and 
children after the surrender, the burning of forts 
full of people, &c. None of these tales were true, 
albeit they found their way into Dr. Thatcher's 
Military Journal, written at the time, and even in- 
to the statelier histories of Gordon, Ramsay, Botta 
and others. A venerable old lady, Mrs. Bidlack, 
yet living in August 1839, was one of the captives 
surrendered at the fort, being then about sixteen 
years old. She stated to the author that the In- 
dians were kind to them after they were taken ^ 
except that they plundered them of every thing 
but the clothes upon their backs. They then 
marked them with paint to prevent them from 
being killed by other Indians — a precaution often 
adopted by the red men, by whom such marks are 
always respected. - 

Great injustice has been done to the character 



HISTORY OF WYOMING 223 

and conduct of Colonel Zebulon Butler in con- 
nection with this tragic affair of Wyoming, by some 
ill-informed historians who have written upon the 
subject, as well because he did not attempt to ral- 
ly the survivors, and make another stand before 
Fort Wyoming, as on account of his flight. But 
the idea is preposterous in the mind of any intelli- 
gent man who duly considers the circumstances in 
which he was placed. Who was there to rally ? 
Could the fife and drum pierce the ears of the 
slain ? Could the dead be raised — the ashes of 
those who had been put to the torture in the flames 
be revivified by the reading of a regimental order ? 
Full one half of the males of the colony lay stiff 
in death on the field. Had there been any body 
to rally, with the least possible chance of success, 
Zebulon Butler would have been the last man to 
fly. But there was not, and the enemy had refus- 
ed quarter to all who belonged to the continental 
army. It was therefore the duty of Colonel But- 
ler to save himself and the fifteen brave survivors 
of Captain Hewitt's company. 

Zebulon Butler was not an accidental soldier. 
He had served in the old French war, with gal- 
lantry, and his associations with European officers, 
had added to his imposing form and carriage the 
manners of a gentleman. His courage and forti- 
tude had moreover -been illustrated in the civil 
wars, for the possession of the territory he was 



224 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

now defending from foreign invasion. An idea 
of his spirit may be formed by the following inci- 
dent, connected with the very service that had 
now resulted so disastrously. It must be borne 
in mind that he was the commander of a conti- 
nental regiment in the Connecticut line. When 
the people of Wyoming began to be alarmed in 
the spring, he was directed to repair thither, and 
look into their condition. On the receipt of his 
report, setting forth the destitution of the valley, 
at head-quarters, it was alleged that his account 
was exaggerated. " It is impossible," exclaimed 
one of the officers, — " it cannot be so." The 
officer's incredulity was reported to Colonel But- 
ler, who replied, in his next despatch, " A gentle- 
man who had a just regard for his own honor, 
would not so lightly suspect the honor of another." 
When the invasion actually occurred, he was 
not only unprepared, but was compelled to meet 
the enemy, greatly superior in numbers, contrary 
to his own better judgment. The rashness of 
the brave but undisciplined men hastily collect- 
ed together compelled him to the hazard of the 
die. His dispositions for the battle were those 
of a soldier, his conduct during the battle that of 
a brave man and skillful officer ; and but for the 
untoward circumstance of the mistaken order 
which threw his left wing into confusion, the for- 
tunes of the day, notwithstanding the disparity of 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 225 

their relative forces, might yet have been different. 
He lost no character in the eyes of those who saw 
the transaction, or in the estimation of those who 
knew him ; and a long and useful life, during 
which he enjoyed richly the public confidence, is 
the most unerring test of his character.* 

So also has it been with Colonel Dennison, the 
second in rank on that fatal day, who was in com- 
mand of the left wing when it broke and fled. 
He, too, has been censured in history, if not for 
his conduct in the battle, at least for the capitu- 
lation. But as in the case of his commander, these 
censures have been most unreasonable. The cir- 
cumstances in which he found himself, when, from 
the necessary flight of Colonel Zebulon Butler» 
the command had devolved upon him, were of the 
most trying description. 

It must not be forgotten that they were only the 
fragments of a shattered and broken militia, and 
not regular troops, of whom he was in accidental 
command. By the result of the battle, the entire 
force and population of the valley were broken 
and crushed. The thought of farther resistance 
would have been more than folly, — it would have 

* The grave of Colonel Builer is occasionally visited by strangers. Tho 
Btone has been embellished by some "poet of the wilderness," with tfeo 
following rustic but pious rhymes : — 

" Distinguished by his usefulness, 
At home and when abroad j 
In court, in camp, and in recess^ 
Prolectecl still by God^" 



226 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

been madness. It would not have checked for an 
hour the victorious enemy, but on the other hand 
would only have exasperated to additional mur- 
ders. And what officer ever yet succeeded in 
rallying, and bringing again into a line, a band of 
flying militia with a cloud of savages upon their 
heels ? When he capitulated, he was in a defence- 
less stockade fort, filled with women and children, 
and surrounded by a savage and victorious enemy. 
But it was not true, as is stated in the books, that 
when he demanded upon what terms he might 
be allowed to surrender, the reply was " The 
Hatchet" — and that he thereupon capitulated 
unconditionally, leaving the women and children 
to a merciless horde of barbarians. On the contrary, 
the terms he made were honorable, and it was not 
his fault that the articles were violated in regard 
to the plundering, and burnings of the Indians. 
Those terms were in truth drawn up before 
Colonel Butler left the garrison. Colonel Den- 
nison has been farther censured, and charged 
with bad faith in joining the expedition of Co- 
lonel Hartley, who, having been ordered to Wyo- 
ming soon after the devastation, proceeded against 
the Indian towns farther north upon the Susque- 
hanna. Colonel Dennison, who had stipulated in 
the capitulation not again to bear arms against his 
English Majesty, was an active officer under Co- 
lonel Hartley ; and the circumstance was used as 



HISTORY OF WYOMING* 227 

a pretext by the bitter and bloody-minded Walter 
Butler, for the invasion and massacre of Cherry 
Valley in the autumn of the same year.* But it 
was only a pretext. With the single exception 
that an end was put by Colonel John Butler and 
Gi-en-gwah-toh to the etiusion of blood, every 
other provision of the terms of that capitulation 
was disregarded. Every thing, as has been seen, 
w^as plundered, the entire settlement subjected to 
pillage, and instead of the inhabitants being al- 
lowed to remain at peace in their possessions, the 
whole w^as given up to rapine, and finally to the 
flames. So that Colonel Dennison, on principles 
of the most scrupulous honor, and the most delicate 
propriety, was fully justified in resuming his arms. 
Colonel Dennison was one of the early emi- 
grants to Wyoming. He was a native of New- 
London county ; and on the extension of the 
jurisdiction of Connecticut over the extensive do- 
main comprehended within the town of West- 
moreland, a regiment of militia being organized, 
he was commissioned its colonel. He was a aen- 
tleman of highly respectable talents, and of liberal, 
and it is believed, collegiate attainments. He 
was regarded by all who served with or knew him, 
as a brave and faithful officer. After the close of 
the war, he held various important civil appoint- 

* Life of Brant, Vol. I., Chap. xvii. 



228 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ments under the authority of Pennsylvania, and 
died at a very advanced age — as eminent for his 
sweet and unaffected piety as he had ever been 
for his patriotism — honored, loved, and wept by 
all. He had two sons, both of whom were highly 
respectable citizens ; one of whom died in March, 
1843, and the other a few years ago, after having 
served his country in the state legislature and in 
Congress, with ability and honor. 

The fields of Wyoming were waving with heavy 
burdens of grain, ripening for the harvest, at the 
time of the invasion, and no sooner had the enemy 
retired than considerable numbers of the settlers 
returned to secure their crops. In the course of 
their flight across the mountains, a party of the 
fugitives fell in with Captain Spalding, of the 
Continental army, at the head of a company of 
regulars, on their way to assist in the defence of 
the valley. Being apprized of the melancholy 
catastrophe that had befallen it, and having no 
force adequate to engage the invaders who had 
been left rioting upon the spoils of their conquest, 
Captain Spalding retraced his steps to Strouds- 
burg, where lie remained for a month, and until 
it was ascertained that the enemy had retired. 
He then advanced and took possession of the vale 
of desolation, where he was soon afterward joined 
by Colonel Zebulon Butler, who assumed the com- 
mand of the station, and under whose direction, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 229 

aided by the returning inhabitants, another fort 
was erected on the west bank of the river, a short 
distance below the present borough of Wilkes- 
barre. This fort was occupied by Captain Spald- 
ing, with a small garrison, for upward of two 
years, during which period numbers of the inhabi- 
tants who had escaped came back, rebuilt their 
houses, and resumed their stations in the settle- 
ment. 

There was, however, but little repose for the 
people until the close of the war. The Indians 
were frequently hovering upon the outskirts, by 
straggling scouts, and in larger parties, in quest of 
scalps, prisoners, and plunder. Sometimes they 
appeared in considerable numbers. In the month 
of March, 1779, Captain Spalding's fort was sur- 
rounded by about two hundred and fifty Indians 
and painted tories. They commenced an attack 
upon the fort, advancing upon all except the river 
side, in a semi-circle, with the intention of storm- 
ing it. But a brisk fire being opened upon them 
from the fort with small arms and also a four-pound- 
er, they dispersed — burning such buildings as 
came in their way, and driving off the cattle, 
Spalding's garrison made a sally ; but the enemy 
rallied in numbers sufficient to chase them back, 
though the firing was maintained during the retreat. 
A small reinforcement being added to the assist- 
ance of Spalding, from Fort Wyoming, by Colo- 
'22 



230 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

nel Butler, the pursuit was renewed ; but on reach- 
ing the edge of the woods, the force of the enemy 
was found to be so large as to render a farther 
advance upon him hazardous. The Americans 
therefore, retired to their defence, but were not 
pursued. The skirmishing continued two hours 
and a half; and the enemy succeeded in carrying 
away sixty heads of black cattle and twenty horses 
— shooting the field-horses of Colonel Butler which 
they could not take.* It was evident, from the 
traces of blood, and other indications, that consid- 
erable execution was done ; but it was not until 
two years afterward, that on the escape of a pris- 
oner, the fact was ascertained that the Indian chief 
commanding the expedition, had been killed — his 
body being cut in two by a cannon ball.f In the 
succeeding month of April, as Major Powell was 
leading a detachment of troops to reinforce the 
garrison of Wyoming, while threading a defile so 
narrow that but a single man could pass at a time, 
and utterly unconscious that a subtle enemy was 
lurking about his path, he was fired upon from an 
Indian ambuscade in Laurel Run, near the crest 
of the first mountain, and six of his men killed, of 
which number were Captain Davis and Lieutenant 
Jones. Taken thus fatally by surprise, Powell 
retreated for a short distance^ to bring his men into 

♦ Despatches of Colonel Butler to General Hand. 
t Statement of General Ross — Wyoming memorial. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 2^1 

order of battle, — for they had been marching at 
their ease, without any organization, or much cir- 
cumspection. The ambuscade was then charged, 
and after a few scattering fires the Indians were 
dispersed. The troops immediately entered the 
valley, taking with them the bodies of the officers 
who had fallen, which were interred with the hon- 
ors of war, and an appropriate though rude me- 
morial placed upon their graves. 

Toward the close of June, 177^, General Sulli- 
van arrived in Wyoming, with his division of the 
army destined for the memorable expedition of that 
year against the country of the Six Nations — the 
territory of the Cayugas and Senecas in particular. 
After remaining there awhile, all things being ready, 
Sulhvan moved up the river to the mouth of the 
Tioga, where he w^as joined by General Clinton's 
division from the north. General Sullivan's bag- 
gage " occupied one hundred and twenty boats, 
and two thousand horses, the former of which 
w^ere arranged in regular order upon the river, and 
were propelled against the current by soldiers with 
setting-poles, the whole strongly guarded. The 
horses, laden with provisions for the daily subsist- 
ence of the troops, having to march singly in a 
narrow path, formed a line six miles in length. 
The flotilla upon the river formed a beautiful spec- 
tacle, as they moved in order from their anchorage, 
and as they passed the fort they exchanged salutes. 



232 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

The whole scene formed a mihtary display surpass- 
ing any which had previously been seen in Wyo- 
ming, and was well calculated to make a deep 
impression upon the minds of those lurking parties 
of savages that still continued to prowl about the 
mountains, from the tops of which the pageant was 
visible for many miles."* 

But these wily warriors were neither driven 
away, nor awed into inaction. It was not long 
after Sullivan's departure before a brisk action was 
fought between a detachment of Pennsylvania mi- 
litia, moving to the north for the protection of the 
Lackawaxen settlements, and a party of one hun- 
dred and fifty Indians, in which the former were 
defeated, with the loss of between forty and fifty 
men killed and taken. 

Having ravaged the Genesee country, and laid 
the Indian towns waste by fire and sword, General 
Sullivan returned to Wyoming in October, and 
thence to Easton. The Indians, however, followed 
close upon his rear, and hung upon the borders of 
Wyoming until the close of the war. Shortly after 
Sullivan's departure, a detachment of militia from 
Northampton county, raised for the protection of 
the borderers, were attacked while on their march 
to the Susquehanna, and eleven of their number 
killed outright, and two others mortally wounded, 

* Cliapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 233 

The men were surprised while refreshing them- 
selves at a brook, by a party of about forty Indians, 
led by a white loyalist. The former were com- 
manded by Captain Moyer, whose good conduct 
after the first fire in part atoned for the high mili- 
tary offence of allowing himself to be surprised. 
Ten of the Indians were killed, and an eleventh 
mortally wounded. Still they succeeded in carry- 
ing away three white prisoners, all of whom con- 
trived to effect their escape on the following night. 
Incidents of a kindred character might be mul- 
tiplied to an almost indefinite extent ; but their 
recital, from general sameness, would become tedi- 
ous ; suffice it to say, that until the final close of 
that great struggle for liberty, from the invasion of 
1778, Wyoming seemed the object of inextinguish- 
able rancor — of unappeasable hate. There was 
not an hour's security for the people. Revenge 
upon Wyoming seemed a cherished luxury to the 
infuriated savages hovering upon her outskirts on 
every side. It was all a scene of war, blood, and 
suffering — owing, in the main, to the unpardonable 
neglect of the Continental Congress, who, having 
drawn off* the flower of the population for the reg- 
ular service, neglected, in return, to afford the valley 
any adequate protection. In the old town records 
of Westmoreland, at a public meeting, in the latter 
part of April, 1780, it is recorded that a committee 
was appointed to aid the people in protecting their 

22* 



234 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



settlements, in consequence of the attacks of the 
enemy. In 1781, a committee was appointed to 
obtain an abatement of the state tax at Hartford, 
in consequence of the continued distress. And in 
1782, wheat being taken for taxes in the town 
treasury, it was ordered to be ground and baked 
mto biscuit to be ready for the scouting parties 
kept up by the town. There was therefore no 
repose for the inhabitants, but frequent fightings 
and continual fears. In the course of this harassing 
warfare there were many severe skirmishes — sev- 
eral heroic risings of prisoners upon their Indian 
captors — and many hair-breadth escapes — some of 
which, together with various details of family and 
individual heroism and suffering, on the great day 
of slaughter and afterward, will be found narrated 
in the succeeding chapter* 



CHAPTEPv VIII. 

Anecdotes and biographical sketches of the living and the dead of Wyo- 
ming,— General Ross, and his family,— Visit to the Field of Battle, — 
The Monument,— Inspection of the Bones of the Slain,— Process of 
Tomahawking,— Visit to Mrs. Myers,— Her recollections,— Messrs. Ben- 
net and Hammond,— Heroic Exploit,— Visit to Rev. Mr. Bidlack,— Mrs. 
Bidlack,— Recollections of both,- The Gore Family,— Story of the In- 
man family, — The Jenkins family, — Lieut. John Jenkins, — His captivi- 
ty, — Extracts from his Diary, — Mrs. Jenkins, his widow, — Her recollec- 
tions, — The Winterraoots, — Mrs. Jenkins's visit to the battle field, — 
TheBlackman family, — Story of Samuel Carey and Zibbera Hibbard, — 
Story of John Abbot, — The Williams family — Heroic exploit of Ser- 
geant Williams, — Story of the Weeks family, and of the Indian Antho- 
ny Turkey, — Story of Major Van Campen, — Life of Mrs. Phebe Young, 
— The Slocuni family, — Story of Frances Slocum, the " Lost Sister." 

Considering the extent of the slaughter in the 
massacre of Wyoming, the number of the survi- 
vors of that fatal day yet lingering this side of the 
grave is much greater than might have been ex- 
pected. And the still larger number of the im- 
mediate descendants of those who fell, yet inhab- 
iting the valley, is also a source of surprise. Both 
circumstances speak well for the place and the 
people — proving the salubrity of the climate, and 
the STOod taste and domestic habits of those who 
enjoy it.* It is the author's design in the present 
chapter, agreeably to an intimation in the last, to 

* Reference is here had to the date of the first edition in 1840. 



236 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

brills: out, in bolder relief than could well be done 
in a general historical narrative, some of the ex- 
ploits and sufferings both of individuals and fami- 
lies, who were engaged in the scenes that have 
been described. And of those thus to be noticed, 
there are several persons of both sexes yet among 
the hving. 

One of the most opulent, as well as respectable 
citizens yet enjoying a green old age in Wilkes- 
barre, is General William Ross. He is a native 
of Moniville, in the State of Connecticut, and 
was removed to Wyoming with his fathers family, 
while yet in his childhood, before the war of the 
Revolution. At the time of the invasion William 
Ross was sixteen years old. He was not, how- 
ever, engaged in the battle which resulted so dis- 
astrously, having the day before marclied with a 
small scouting party, twelve miles up the river, to 
a settlement in which the Indians had just com- 
mitted a savage butchery. In this expedition tliey 
killed two Indians, and buried five bodies of their 
fellow colonists, which had been sadly mangled. 
But young Ross had two brothers, older than him- 
self, Jeremiah and Perrin, engaged in the battle, the 
latter of whom was an officer, and both of whom 
fell. Their father was already dead. On Wil- 
liam, therefore, now devolved the care of an aged 
mother, several sisters, and the widow and chil- 
dren of his brother Perrin. These all made their 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 237 

escape across the mountains to a place of safety, 
whence, however, the noble-spirited youth return- 
ed to the scene of rapine, to save whatever, if 
any thing might be left, and in all respects to per- 
form his duty. He, among others, was charged 
with visiting the field of slaughter and burying the 
dead. The scene was shocking. They discover- 
ed two rings in which prisoners had been massa- 
cred, w^ithin one of which there were nine bodies, 
and within the other, fourteen. The only bodies 
recognized, were those of Darius Spofford and 
Captain Durkee, — the latter being easily identified 
from the circumstance that he had lost a joint from 
one of his fingers. Some of the unhappy prison- 
ers were burnt to death on that fatal night by the 
torture of fire, — the process having been witness- 
ed by Mr. Bennet and his son Ishmael, by Mr. 
Whitaker, a magistrate, and by Captain Blanchard, 
who had stationed themselves for purposes of ob- 
servation, on the opposite bank of the river. 
They distinctly saw naked white men running 
around the fires, and heard the cries of agony. 
They saw the Indians following them in the circle 
with their spears, mingling their yells of savage 
delight with the shrieks of their victims.* It was 

* Statement of Ishmael Bennet, in the WyomingMemorial to Congress, 
" Early the next morning we could see them tixing their scalps on little 
bows made of small sticks, and with their moccasin awls and a stringy 
were sewing them around the bows, and scraping off the tlesh and blood, 



238 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

more than a month after the event when this visit 
to the field was made, and General Ross assured 
Professor Silliman, in the year 1829, that owing 
to the intense heat of the weather, and probably to 
the dryness of the air, the bodies were shrivelled, 
dry, and inoffensive, but with a single exception 
they could not be recognized. They were buried 
in a common grave upon the farm now belonging 
to Mr. Gay. Everything from his father's farm 
had disappeared, that the invaders could destroy 
or carry away. But being the only male of his 
family left, he resolved to honor his name ; and 
the consequence was, that he not only bore up 
with heroic fortitude against the flood of calami- 
ties that had rolled over the valley, but he over- 
came and rolled them back. The widows and 
orphans were taken care of; the fortunes of his 
house retrieved ; and he has lived long in the en- 
joyment of many public honors from the state of 
his adoption, and discharging every pubhc or pri- 
vate trust confided to him with fidelity.* 

A visit to the field where the battle commenced 
is no farther of special interest than that it ena- 
bles one to test the descriptive accuracy of the 
books. The position of the enemy's line when 

carefully drying them, and at the same time smoking." [Elvira Harding^s 
Statement — Wijnming MemoriaJ.'] The squaws, for several days after the 
battle, ornamented their girdles with the scalps of the slain. 

* Written in 1840. General Ross has since deceased. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 239 

receiving the attack may be traced, and the tan- 
gled morass still exists through which the Indians 
penetrated to gain the rear of the left wing of the 
Americans, commanded by Colonel Dennison. 

Returning from the battle field, an interesting 
object for a visit is the monument which the peo- 
ple of Wyoming have commenced building, in 
honor of their patriotic ancestors who fell upon 
this consecrated aceldama. It stands upon the 
eastern side of the highway, about half a mile 
south of the village of Troy, and near the line 
where the fury of the battle ceased — not far, 
moreover, from the spot where, some weeks after 
the conflict, the remains of the dead were collected 
and buried. The monument is to consist of a 
simple obelisk, of perhaps twenty feet in diameter 
at the base, to be carried up to the height of fifty 
or sixty feet. The material is an inferior species 
of granite quarried in the neighborhood. The 
foundation has been deeply and substantially laid, 
and the superstructure carried up some ten or 
twelve feet above tlie ground. And here the work 
rests for want of funds. An application was made 
by the people of Wyoming to the Legislature of 
Connecticut, for aid in the completion of this work 
of piety and patriotism. The case was ably 
presented to, and enforced upon that body, by 
a committee from Wyoming, at the head of which 
was Charles Miner — but without present sue- 



240 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

cess. It is to be hoped, however, that a renew- 
ed appUcation will be more fortunate. The towns 
in Wyoming during the whole of the war of 
the Revolution, though not exactly an integral 
part of Connecticut, yet as much belonged to that 
state as did New-London, Norwalk, Danbury, or 
Fairfield. These towns, which were burnt and 
desolated by the enemy, received remuneration 
from the state. But neither of them suffered the 
horrors of Wyoming ; and although Wyoming 
contributed her full proportion of revenue to the 
treasury of the state, and raised a goodly number 
of the " Connecticut line," and poured out her 
best blood like water, and almost swelled the tor- 
rent of the Susquehanna with her tears, yet of 
compensation she never received a dollar. And 
now that she appeals for a few thousand dollars 
to perpetuate the remembrance of the martyrs who 
bled, and of the cause in which they fell, it would 
be a burning shame — a disgrace which every son 
of Connecticut should forever feel — to have the 
petition denied. 

At a house near by the monument, preserved, 
as they should be, with holy care, are such of the 
bones of the slain as have been from time to time 
collected. These are to be deposited in a cham- 
ber of the monument. 

Several of the larger bones — of thighs, and arms, 
and shoulder-blades, are perforated with bullet- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 241 

holes — rifle balls, evidently, by the size. Every 
skull save one bears the mark of the deadly toma- 
hawk, and exhibits the process of the savage ope- 
ration. The Indians seem not to have struck ver- 
tically downward, but by a glancing side blow, 
chipped out a piece from the crown, of two or three 
inches diameter. One of the skulls received two 
strokes of the hatchet ; a cut just described upon 
the crown, and a second in the side of the head, 
just by the ear. 

About midway between the site of Fort Forty 
and the place where the conflict was begun is the 
pleasant village of Troy. This is an interesting 
place, as the enemy appear to have halted in its 
neighborhood at the close of the massacre. In 
afield about sixty rods east of the highway is the 
bloody rock upon which the prisoners were exe- 
cuted by the Indians, during the night of the bat- 
tle as heretofore described. It has a red, or rather 
brick-dust appearance on one side, believed by the 
superstitious to have been caused by blood which 
winter storms cannot wash nor time wear away. 

Fort Forty stood upon the banks of the river, and 
the spot is preserved as a common — beautifully 
carpeted with green, but bearing no distinctive 
marks denoting the purposes for which the ground 
in those troublous times was occupied. Near the 
site of the fort, is the residence of Mrs. Myers, a 
widow lady of great age, but of clear mind and 
23 



242 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

excellent memory, who is a survivor of the Wyo- 
ming invasion, and the horrible scenes attending it. 
Mrs. Myers was the daughter of a Mr. Bennett, 
whose family was renowned in the domestic an- 
nals of Wyoming, both for their patriotism and 
their courage. She was born in 176r2, and was of 
course sixteen years old at the time of the invasion. 
She was in Fort Forty when Colonel Zebulon But- 
ler marched out at the head of the provincials 
against the enemy. Her recollections of all that 
passed beneath her eye on that occasion are re- 
markably vivid. The column marched forth three 
or four abreast, in good spirits, though not uncon- 
scious of the danger they were to encounter.* 
Still, they were not apprized of the odds against 
them, since the enemy had most skilfully concealed 
his strength. 

Soon after the departure of the provincials, seve- 
ral horsemen galloped up from below, their steeds 
in a foam, and the sweat dripping from their sides. 
They proved to be Captain Durkee, Lieutenant 
Pearce, and another officer, who, having heard of 
the invasion, had left the detachment of troops to 
which they belonged, then distant fifty miles, and 
ridden all night to aid in the defence of their wives, 
their children, and their homes. '' A morsel of 



• One of the settlers, a man named Finch, had been shot and sralped 
two d ay-; before, in a gorge of the mountains near the upper section of 
the valley. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 243 

food and we will follow," said these brave men. 
The table was hastily spread, and they all partook 
of their last meal. Before the sun went down they 
were numbered with the dead. The inmates of 
the fort could distinctly hear the firing from the 
commencement of the battle. At first, from its 
briskness, they were full of high hopes. But as 
it began to change into a scattered fire, and the 
sounds grew nearer and nearer, their hearts sank 
with the apprehension that the day was lost, and 
their defenders on the retreat. The suspense was 
dreadful, and was sustained until near night-fall, 
when a few of the fugitives rushed into the fort, 
and fell down, wounded, exhausted and bloody ! 

Mrs. Myers was present at the capitulation on 
the following day, and saw the victorious entrance 
of the enemy, six abreast, with drums beating and 
colors flying. The terms of capitulation were fair 
and honorable, but as the reader has already seen, 
the Indians regarded them not, and immediately 
began to rob, plunder, burn, and destroy. Col. 
Dennison, according to the relation of Mrs. Myers, 
sent for Colonel John Butler, the British command- 
er. They sat down together by a table on which 
the capitulation had been written, (yet carefully 
preserved by Mrs. Myers.) She and a younger 
girl were seated within the fort close by, and heard 
every word they uttered. Colonel Dennison com- 
plained of the injuries and outrages then enacting 



244 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

by the savages. '^ I will put a stop to it, sir — I 
will put a stop to it," said Colonel Butler. But 
the plundering continued, and Butler was again 
sent for by Colonel Dennison, who remonstrated 
sharply w^ith him at the violation of the treaty. 
" We have surrendered our fort and arms to you," 
said Colonel Dennison, " on the pledge of your 
faith that both life and property should be protect- 
ed. Articles of capitulation are considered sacred 
by all civilized people." " I tell you what, sir," 
replied Colonel Butler, waving his hand emphati- 
callv, " I can do nothing: with them : I can do 
nothing w'ith them." x\nd probably he could not, 
for the Indians, in tb.e end, had the audacity to 
strip Colonel Dennison himself of his hat and rifle- 
frock, (a dress then often worn by the officers.) 
Colonel D. w^as not inclined to submit peaceably 
to this outrage, but the brandishing of a tomahawk 
over his head compelled his acquiescence — not, 
however, until, during the parley, the colonel had 
adroitly transferred his purse to one of the young 
ladies present, unobserved by the Indians. This 
purse contained only a few dollars — but it was in 
fact the whole military chest of Wyoming. 

Mrs. Myers represents Colonel John Butler as 
a portly, good looking man, of perhaps forty-five, 
dressed in green, the uniform of his corps, with a 
cap and plumes. On the capitulation of Fort 
Forty, as the victorious Butler entered it, his (pick 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 245 

eye rested upon a sergeant of the Wyoming troops, 
named Boyd, a young Englishman, a deserter from 
the royal ranks, who had been serviceable in dril- 
hng the American recruits. " Boyd !" exclaimed 
Butler on recognising him, " Go to that tree !" " I 
hope your honor," replied Boyd, " will consider 
me a prisoner of war." " Go to that tree !" re- 
peated Butler with emphasis. The deserter com- 
plied with the order, repaired to the tree, which 
was without the fort, and at a signal was shot down. 
Butler drew his white forces away from the valley 
shortly after the capitulation. But the Indians 
remained about the settlements, and finished the 
work of destruction.* In about a week after the 
battle, the torch was applied to most of the dwel- 
ling houses then remaining, and Mrs. Myers saw 
that of her father, Mr. Bennett, in flames among 
the number. He, with his family, thereupon fled 
from the valley to a place of greater security — 
Mrs. Myers and her sister, Mrs. Tuttle, being 
among the fugitives. 

Mr. Bennett returned to Wyoming early in the 

* It has been stated by several aiitfiois, that the British Colonel Butler 
was a kinsman orCoh)neI Zebiilon Butler. But the fact is not so. Colonel 
John Butler was an opulent gentleman residing in the Mohawk valley, a 
iuij,flibor and personal friend of Hir W illiani, and afterward of Sir John 
Johnson. It was his misfortune to be engaged in a branch of the service 
which has covered his name, in liistory, with any tbinii but honor. Still he 
was a very respectable man, as were many other loyalists. After the close 
of the war of the revolution, he was retained in the British Canadian ser- 
vice, and died at an advanced age, much respected by those who knew him. 



246 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

following spring, and was soon afterward captured 
by a party of six Indians, with his son, then a lad, 
and Mr. Hammond, a neighbor, while at work in 
the field. The Indians marched them toward the 
North, but during the night of the second or third 
day, their expedition was brought to a sudden and 
most unexpected close. From a few words drop- 
ped by one of the Indians, Mr. Bennett drew the 
inference that it was their design to nmrder them. 
Having requested of the Indian the use of his 
moccasin awl to set a button, " No want button 
for one night," was the gruft' and laconic reply. 
He therefore resolved, if possible, to elFect an es- 
cape, and while tlie captors had left them a few 
moments to slake their thirst at a spring, a plan 
for that purpose was concerted. Mr. Bennett, 
being in years, was permitted to travel unbound. 
Hammond and the boy were pinioned. At night 
they all lay down to sleep, except one of the In- 
dians and Mr Bennett. The latter, having gather- 
ed the wood to keep up the fire for the night, sat 
down, and soon afterward carelessly took the In- 
dian's spear in his hand, and began to play with it 
upon his lap. The Indian now and then cast a 
half-suspicious glance upon him, but continued 
his employment — picking the scanty flesh from the 
head of a deer which he had been roasting. The 
other Indians, wearied, had wrapped themselves 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 247 

in their blankets, and by their snoring gave evi- 
dence of being in a deep slumber. 

The Indian left upon the watch, moreover, be- 
gan to nod over his supper as though half asleep. 
Watching his opportunity, therefore, Mr. Bennett 
by a single thrust transfixed the savage with his 
own spear, who fell across the burning logs with 
a groan. Not an instant was lost in cutting loose 
the limbs of Hammond and the lad. The other 
Indians were in the same breath attacked by the 
three, and the result was that five of the tawny 
warriors were killed, and the sixth fled howling 
with a hatchet sticking in his back. The victors 
thereupon returned in triumph to the valley, bear- 
ing as trophies the spoils of the slain. '">i 

In the pleasant town of Kingston, on the west \ 
side of the river, opposite the borough of Wilkes- 
barre, resides the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack, a cler- 
gyman of the Methodist denomination, who, with 
his lady, are survivors of the memorable scenes of 
177S, already described. This venerable man is 
between eighty and ninety years of age, and of 
clear and sound mind. He is of a tall and athletic 
form, of intellectual and strongly marked features 
and in the full pride of manhood, his presence must 
have been commanding. Mr. Bidlack was not 
himself in the battle of Wyoming, not being at 
home at the time of its occurrence. But he had 
a brother, Captain James Bidlack, Jr., in that 



248 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

bloody affair, who bravely fell at the head of 
his company, only eight of whom escaped the 
horrors of that day. He entered the field with 
but thirty-two rank and file, twenty-four of whom 
were slain. His station was near the left wing, 
but he refused to move from his post, although 
the greater portion of his comrades had broken 
and were in full flight. Their father, James Bid- 
lack, senior, was one of the fathers of the settle- 
ment ; and when the middle-aged portion of their 
population was drawn away by enlistment in the 
continental army, the old gentleman commanded 
a corps of aged men, exempts, and kept garrison 
in one of their little forts, called Plymouth. Ben- 
jamin went early into the regular service. He 
was with Washington in the vicinity of Boston, 
in the summer of 1775, and saw the evacuation of 
the ''rebel town" by General Sir William Howe. 
His term of enlistment expired in 1777, where- 
upon he returned to his parental home, and for a 
season engaged in the most hazardous and fa- 
tiguing service of the border. Enlisting again in 
the regular service, he continued in the army 
until the effectual conclusion of the war by the 
brilliant conquest of Lord Cornwallis, at York- 
town, in the siege of which fortress he partici- 
pated. Speaking of the affair one day, Mr. Bid- 
lack said, " Our batteries played night and day : 
it was an incessant blaze and thunder — roar and 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 249 

flash. Midnight was Ughted up so that you might 
pick up a glove, ahnost any where about the 
works." 

In 1789, the year subsequent to the massacre, 
during a sudden irruption of the Indians, Mr. 
James Bidlack, the father, was seized and carried 
into captivity, and did not obtain a release until 
the end of the war. He also lost anotlier son in 
batte before the close of the contest. The old 
gentleman died about the year 1810. It is many 
years since Benjamin became a minister of the 
gospel. From his great age he no longer offici- 
ates in that capacity, but it is said of his preach- 
ing " that he spoke as he had fought, with impres- 
sive earnestness and ardent sincerity." 

The venerable consort of Mr. Bidlack was 
eighty-one years of age in the year 1839, and of 
course must have been twenty at the time of the 
battle. Her maiden name was Gore, a member of 
the brave family so many of whom fell in the 
massacre, as related in a preceding chapter. Five 
of her brothers and two brothers-in-law went into 
the battle, and her father, who had been commis- 
sioned a magistrate in the preceding spring, by 
Governor Trumbull, was one of the aged men 
left for the defence of Fort Forty, while Colonel 
Butler marched forth to meet the enemy. Five 
of her brothers were left dead on the field, and a 
sixth was wounded. She was herself taken pris- 



250 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

oner in Fort Wyoming, and one of the Indians 
placed his mark upon her as a protection. She 
stated* that after the capitulation the Indians 
treated the prisoners kindly, although they plun- 
dered them of every thing except the clothes they 
had on. Some of the females, in order to save 
what they could, arrayed themselves in three or 
four dresses. On discovering the artifice, how- 
ever, the Indians compelled them to disrobe, by 
threats of having their throats cut. 

But although enjoying the protection of her In- 
dian captors, such were their apprehensions for 
the future that Mrs. Bidlack fled from the valley 
nine days afterward, and crossed the fearful for- 
ests and fens of the Pokono mountains to Strouds- 
burg, taking an infant, a younger sister, with her. 
Two of her brothers who fell, Asa and Silas, were 
ensigns. The one who escaped, Daniel, was the 
lieutenant in Captain Durkee's company, the sta- 
tion of which was the right wing, " a few rods be- 
low Wintermoot's fort, close to the old road that 
led up through the valley. Stepping into the road, 
a bail struck him in the arm ; tearing from his 
body a portion of his shirt, he applied a hasty 
bandage. Just at that moment Captain Durkee 
stepped into the road at the same place. ' Look 
out !' said Mr. Gore, ' there are some of the sava- 

* To the author, on a visit made to Mr. and Mrs. Bidlack, in 1839. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 251 

ges concealed under yonder heap of logs.' At 
that instant a bullet struck Captain Durkee in the 
thigh. When retreat became inevitable, Mr. Gore 
endeavored to assist his captain from the field but 
found it impossible ; and Durkee said, ' Save 
yourself, Mr. Gore — my fate is sealed.' Lieuten- 
ant Gore then escaped down the road, and leap- 
ing the fence about a mile below, lay couched close 
under a bunch of bushes. While there, an Indi- 
an sprang over the fence and stood near him. Mr. 
Gore said he could see the white of his eye, 
and was almost sure he was discovered. A mo- 
ment after a yell was raised on the flats below, 
when the Indian drew up his rifle and fired, and 
instantly ran off* in that direction."* In the gray 
of twilight, after the fury of the enemy seemed to 
have spent itself. Gore heard two persons in con- 
versation near the road where he was lying, one 
of whom, by his voice, he judged to be Colonel 
John Butler, the enemy's leader. " It has been a 
hard day for the Yankees," said one of them. 
" Yes," replied the other, '' there has been blood 
enough shed." 

The name of one of Mrs. Bidlack's brothers-in- 
law, who fefl, was Murfee. In the evening the 
distress of his wife was very great — and rendered 
still more poignant by the apprehension that he 

* Hazleton Travellers. 



252 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

might have been captured, and would be put to 
the torture. It was some reUef to the bitterness 
of her anguish to learn on the following day that 
he had been killed outright. Mrs. Murfee, too, 
fled to the mountains, and wandered back to her 
native place, — Norwich, in Connecticut, — where 
a few days after her arrival among her friends, she 
gave birth to an infant. 

This case of the Gore family is certainly one of 
the most remarkable in the history of man. Rare- 
ly, indeed, if ever, in the progress of the most 
bloody civil conflicts, has it happened before, or 
since, that a father and six sons have been enga- 
ged in the same battle-field. Five corpses of a sin- 
gle family sleeping upon the cold bed of death to- 
gether, upon the self same night. What a price 
did that family pay for liberty ! 

There was, however, another case nearly paral- 
lel, and equally interesting. A brave family resi- 
ded in the valley named Inman, consisting of the 
father, mother, and seven sons. The former was 
too old to go into the fight. Five of the sons 
went ; and two others, one of whom was nineteen 
years old, and the other quite a lad, would have 
gone but for the want of arms. It was one of the 
many untoward circumstances under which the 
people were suffering, that by the terms of enlist- 
ment prescribed by Congress, the regular troops 
raised in Wyoming were obliged to supply their 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 253 

own arms. Hence, at the time of the invasion, 
all the best arms of tlie valley were with the sol- 
diers attached to the continental army. Two of 
the younger Inmans, therefore, were compelled to 
remain at home with their aged parents. Two of 
those who went forth, Elijah and Israel, went to 
return no more — both having been slain. " Two 
escaped without injury ; and the fifth, hotly pur- 
sued, plunged into the river, overheated with ex- 
ertion, and hid himself under the willows. He 
might as well have fallen in the fight ; for a cold 
settled upon his lungs, and carried him in a few 
weeks to his grave."* Of the two brothers who 
escaped, one, Richard, had the satisfaction of sa- 
ving the life of his neighbor, Rufus Bennett, from 
the tomahawk of a stalwart Indian, when in the 
act of leaping upon him. Bennett and the Indi- 
an had both fired without effect, and the latter, 
with his uplifted tomahawk flashing in the air, 
was in the act of springing upon him, when the 
rifle of Richard Inman brought him with a convul- 
sive bound dead within a few feet of his intended 
victim. But the tale of sorrow in this patriotic 
family is not yet ended. In common with the 
other surviving inhabitants of the valley, the pa- 
rents with their remaining sons escaped to the 
Delaware. With others, however, toward winter, 

* Hazleton Travellers. 

24 



254 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

they returned for the purpose of sowing their fields 
with wheat. Soon after the season of snows had 
set in, one of the young men, Isaac, aged nine- 
teen, imagining that he heard the rusthng of a flock 
of wild turkeys in a neighboring forest, sallied 
forth with his fowling-piece to bring some of them 
in — not anticipating that danger was lurking so 
near. He had not been long in the forest before 
the discharge of a musket was heard, and the fami- 
ly were shortly expecting his return, laden with 
the prize of his skill. He came not. A sleepless 
night was passed, but there was no return. The 
hearts of his fond parents sank within them at 
the tidings that the trail of an Indian scouting 
party had been discovered in the neighborhood. 
Still hope ever whispered the flattering tale that 
their young and promising son, — for he was in- 
deed a youth of uncommon grace and beauty, — 
had been taken a captive, and would perhaps find 
his way back in the spring. But, alas ! the spring 
came, and the dissolving snow revealed a sadder 
tale. The body of the youth was found in the 
edge of a little creek passing through the farm. 
He had been shot, and an Indian's war-club lay 
by his side. His body was cruelly mangled and 
his light silken hair was yet stained with blood, 
drawn by the hatchet and scalping-knife.* 

" Death found strange beauty on his manly brow, 
And dashed it out." 

* Hazleton Travellers. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 255 

Thus perished four of this devoted family in the 
course of that memorable year.* 

The name of Colonel John Jenkins has more 
than once occurred in the preceding pages. This 
gentleman was an early emigrant to the valley, 
and presided at the meeting of the inhabitants 
in the beginning of the revolutionary troubles, 
when the patriotic resolutions mentioned in a for- 
mer chapter, in opposition to the unconstitutional 
acts of Parliament, were adopted. The old gentle- 
man was an active patriot until after the massa- 
cre, when he removed to Orange county in the 
State of New-York ; closing there an honorable 
and well-spent life. He had a son, Lieutenant 
John Jenkins, no less a patriot than himself, who 
had been married shortly previous to the massa- 
cre, and who did the cause good service. He was 
taken prisoner by a band of Indians, while on a 
reconnoitring party, near AVyalusing, sixty miles 
above Wyoming, in November, 1777, and car- 
ried to Niagara. It happened that, at the same time, 
the Americans held captive at Albany a distin- 
guished Indian warrior, for whom Colonel John 
Butler determined to exchange Mr. Jenkins. For 
this purpose he sent the latter to the American 
lines, under a strong escort of Indians. But the 



* One of the survivors of these melancholy scenes, Colonel Edward In- 
man, a man of wealth and character, yet, (1839,) resides in the valley, a 
^ew miles below Wilkesbarre. 



256 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

party was short of provisions, and from the fa- 
tigues of the march, and other privations, Mr. Jen- 
kins almost perished. Nay, he came near being 
murdered in one of the drunken carousals of the 
Indians, and was only saved by the fidehty of 
a young warrior, whom he had succeeded in 
securing as his friend. This faithful savage kept 
himself perfectly sober, in order to the more ef- 
fectual preservation of the life of his prisoner. 

On the arrival of the party in the neighborhood 
of Albany, it was ascertained that the chief for 
whom Jenkins was to be exchanged, had died of 
the small pox. The Indians, gTeatly incensed at 
this loss of a favorite warrior, were resolved upon 
taking Jenkins back with them into captivity, and 
Jenkins himself believed it was their intention to 
murder him as soon as they should have with- 
drawn beyond striking distance from Albany. His 
release, however was ultimately negotiated, and 
he made his way back to Wyoming, to the com- 
pany of his friends, and to the embrace of his 
young wife, whom he had recently married. 

During the latter years of the war, Lieutenant 
Jenkins was in the habit of keeping a diary, or re- 
cord of current events in the valley. From this 
diary a few extracts have been made, which show 
how constantly the settlers were harrassed by the 
subtle and ever-active enemy with whom they 
were obliged to contend :^- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 257 

''^January Wth, 1780. A party of men set out 
to go through the swamp, (across the Pokono 
range) on snow-shoes, the snow about three feet 
deep. 

" Feb. 2 J. — Two soldiers went to Capowes, 
and froze themselves badly. 

" Feh. 1th. — Colonel Butler set out for New- 
England. 

" March 21ih. — Bennett and son, and Ham- 
mond taken and carried off — supposed to be done 
by the Indians. The same day Upson was killed 
and scalped near William Stewart's house, and 
young Rogers taken. 

'^ March 28th. — Several scouting parties sent 
out but made no discoveries of the enemy. 

^^ March 29th. — Esquire Franklin went to Hun- 
tington on a scout, and was attacked by the Indi- 
ans, at or near his own house, and two of his party 
murdered — Ransom and Parker. 

" March 30th. — Mrs. Pike came in this day, 
and informed that she and her husband were in 
the woods making sugar, and were surrounded by 
a party of about thirty Indians, who had several 
prisoners with them, and two horses. They took 
her husband and carried him off with them, and 
painted her and sent her in. They killed the 
horses before they left the cabin where she was. 
One of the prisoners told her that the Indians had 
killed three or four men at Fishing Greek. 

24* 



258 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

'' Captain Spalding set out for Philadelphia this 
morning, &c. This day the Indians took Jones, 
Avery, and Lyon, at Cooper's. 

u j^pyii ^iii^ — Pike, and two men from Fishing 
Creek, and two boys that were taken by the Indi- 
ans, made their escape by rising on their guard of 
iQii Indians — killed three — and the rest took to 
the woods naked, and left the prisoners with 
twelve guns and about thirty blankets, &c. These 
the prisoners got safe to the fort.* 

" May 11 ih. — Sergeant Baldwin went to Lack- 
awana, and found a man which ran away from 
the Indians, and brought him in. He informed 
that he was taken by a party of ten Indians and 
one tory, near Fort Allen, f This day the people 
were alarmed on both sides of the river. William 
Perry came in from Delaware in the evening, and 
informed that about sunrise this morning he saw a 
party of Indians near the Laurel Run, and several 
parties between that and the fort, by reason of 
which he was detained until that time in com- 
ing in. 

"May ISth. — Several reconnoitring parties 
sent out, but made no discoveries except a few 
tracks in the road near the mountain. 

V 

* The true version of this exploit of Pike, will appear a few pages on- 
ward, in the story of Major Van C'anipen. 

jFort Allen was upon the Lehigh river, in the neighborhood of the Mo- 
ravian settlements, fifty miles south, or southeast of Wyoming. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. '259 

" June lOth. — A party of our men brought in 
three tories, which they took at Waysock's. 
These set out from New-York witJi the intent to 
travel through the country to Niagara — Bowman 
and son, Hover and Phihp Buck in Company, but 
(the latter) made their escape when the others 
were taken. 

'^ July Will. — Bowman, Hover, and Sergeant 
Leaders, sent to head quarters in order for trial. 

'^ Monday^ Sept. 4th. — Sergeant Baldwin and 
Searle came in from a scout, and brought in a 
horse and a quantity of plunder of different kinds, 
which they took from a party of Indians near 
Tunkhannock creek, on Saturday before. 

'^Thursday, Sept. \4th. — Lieutenant Myers, 
from Fort Allen, came into the Fort, and said he 
had made his escape from the Indians the night 
before, and that he had been taken in the Scotcli 
Valley, and that he had thirty-three men with him, 
which he commanded. He was surrounded by 
the Indians, and thirteen of his men killed and 
three taken. This day we heard that Fort Jen- 
kins and Hervey's Mills were burnt. 

'^December 6th. — In the morning a party of 
tories and Indians took some prisoners from Shaw- 
wanee — [v/est of the river, four miles below 
Wilkesbarre.j Did no other damage, except 
taking a small quantity of plunder. 

'^ December 6th. — A party of our men sent 



260 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

after them, and pursued them three days, and 
gave out. 

''Jan. 23d, 1781. — Captain Mitchell came to 
Wyoming in order to release Colonel Butler. 

" January 24th. — Captain Selin and myself 
set out for Philadelphia." 

Lieutenant Jenkins was an active officer during 
the whole contest, and signalized himself in sever- 
al brisk affairs with the Indians. When General 
Sullivan marched from Wyoming to lay waste the 
Genesee country, he selected Lieutenant Jenkins 
as his guide or conductor. He fought bravely in 
the battle of Newtown, and after the close of the 
war, was for many years a surveyor in the Susque- 
hanna and Genesee countries. He became an 
influential citizen in Wyoming, and held various 
important offices, — sometimes representing the 
County of Luzerne in the Legislature of Pennsyl- 
vania. He was the leader of the democratic party 
in that county, and died about the year 1828, — 
greatly respected by all who knew him. 

The widow of Lieutenant, or rather Colonel 
Jenkins — for, like his father, he had long worn 
the latter title before his death — Mrs. Berthia Jen- 
kins, yet survives, at the age of eighty six. — For a 
lady of her years, she is remarkably active, and her 
mind and memory are still unclouded. It will be 
borne in mind that on entering the valley, the first 
halt of Colonel Butler and his Indian allies, was at 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 261 

Fort Wintermoot, upon the west bank of the river 
perhaps a mile above the battle field. Mrs. Jen- 
kins, then just married, was in Fort Jenkins, at the 
time of Butler's arrival, about a mile yet farther to 
the north. The fidehty of the Wintermoots to the 
cause of the revolution, had been questioned pre- 
vious to the arrival of Colonel John Butler, and the 
erection of their little fort had caused some remark, 
inasmuch as Fort Jenkins was so near that this 
additional stockade was hardly deemed necessary. 
But on the arrival of the enemy, all disguise was 
thrown off by the Wintermoots, and Colonel Butler 
with his troops and Indians were received as friends, 
— showing that there had been a perfect under- 
standing between the parties, and that the suspect- 
ed family had in fact been plotting the destruction 
of their own neighbors. A detachment was im- 
mediately sent against Fort Jenkins, with a demand 
for its surrender, — a demand which could not be 
resisted, as there were only nine or ten persons in 
the little defence, old and young, Mrs. Jenkins 
of course became a prisoner. This was on the 2d 
of July. The battle was on the 3rd, and the 
moment it was known that the Yankees were 
marching up to the attack from Fort Forty, the 
detachment which had taken Fort Jenkins was 
recalled to the main body. Mrs. Jenkins follow- 
ed to the distance of half way between the forts^ 



262 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

and sat down upon a stump in the field, with an 
anxious heart, to await the issue. She heard the 
firing as it commenced and ran along the line 
from right to left, until it became general. She 
also heard the war-whoops of the Indians. By 
and bye the whoopings became more fierce, and 
the firing broken. Then it was less frequent and 
more distant, while the yells of the savages grew 
more frightful, giving " signs of wo that all was 
lost." The next morning the prisoners from Fort 
Jenkins were taken down to Wintermoot's. Among 
them was a Mrs. Gardiner, whose husband had 
been captured in the skirmish at Exeter two days 
before. She was now permitted to go down to the 
enemy, to take leave of him. Mrs. Jenkins, and 
a Mrs. Baldwin, whose husband was in the battle, 
with an old man, her father-in-law, carrying a flag, 
were allowed to go in company with Mrs. Gardiner. 
Mrs. Baldwin could obtain no tidings of her hus- 
band, and returned with a heavier heart than she 
went. This visit enabled Mrs. Jenkins to take a 
survey of the battle field ; and her descriptions are 
as vivid as they are shocking. She discovered 
numbers among the dead, of her late friends and 
neighbors. In one place there was a circle of the 
dead, lying as they had fallen, scalped and man- 
gled. In another, were the smouldering embers 
of a fire, around which were strewed the half-burnt 
limbs of those who had been put to death by tor- 



History of Wyoming. 263 

turc* By some means the liberation of Mrs. 
Jenkins was effected, and she fled the valley with 
other fugitives, returning thither eighteen months 
afterward. It is an interesting fact related by Mrs. 
Jenkins, that the people of Wyoming were in part 
dependent upon themselves for their own gun- 
powder, which the women rudely manufactured 
by leeching the earth for the salt-petre, and then 
compounding it with charcoal and sulphur as best 
they could with such means as were at hand. 

There was a brave family named Blackman, 
residents of the valley, two of whom, then young 
men, now far down the vale of years, are yet liv- 
ing, — farmers of wealth and character. Their 
father, being too old to go out upon the war-path, 
remained within Fort Wyoming during the action, 
performing his duty, however, as an officer of a 
veteran corps previously instituted, called the Re- 
formadoes. Mr. Blackman's eldest son, Eleazer, 
went into the battle, with a young man named 
David Spofford, who, two months before, had been 
married to his sister, — Lavina Blackman. The 
two young men together with a brother of Spof- 
ford, named Phineas, fought side by side, until 
David received his death-wound. Falling upon 

* Scarse could he footing find in thai fowle waj', 
For mnny corses, like a great lay stall, 
Which mnrdcred men, which therein strotccd lay 
Without remorse, or decent funerall. 

Spencer^s Faerie Qucfne. 



264 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

his brother's arm, he said, — "I am mortally hurt, 
take care of Lavina !" These were his last words. 
Other members of the Blackman family did good 
service during the war, in the valley and else- 
where. 

Among the survivors of the massacre, yet lin- 
gering in the valley, are Mr. Samuel Carey and 
Mr. Baldwin. The former was nineteen years 
old at the time of the battle. He belonged to 
Captain Bidlack's company, forming a part of 
the left wing of the line, which was first out-flank- 
ed and thrown into confusion. In the flight that 
ensued, he was accompanied by Zippera Hibbard, 
his file-leader in the line. Hibbard was also a 
a young man, remarkable for the height and beau- 
ty of his form, as well as for his great strength 
and superior agility. In all the athletic sports 
among the settlers he was a leader, and such were 
his muscular powers, and his feats of running and 
leaping, that had he lived to engage in the Olymp- 
ic games of classsic Greece, he would doubtless 
often have won the crown. 

He hatl just been married at the time of the in- 
vasion, and tradition reports the parting scene 
from his youthful bride to have been one of ten- 
der interest. Fear was a stranger to his breast ; 
but there were ties binding him to his home which 
could not be severed without a severe struggle. 
He knew, from the superiority of the enemy's 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 265 

force, that the battle would be fought upon un- 
equal terms, and perhaps his mind was clouded 
with a presentiment that he should not return 
from the field he was preparing to enter. After 
adjusting his arms, therefore, he yet for a moment 
lingered — stepped forward, and back again — 
paused — and musingly hesitated. At length he 
ran back to the embrace of his bride, impart- 
ed another kiss upon her pale and trembling 
lips — but spoke not a word, as he tore himself 
finally away. " The next hour," to quote the 
words of Charles Miner, " there was not a soldier 
that marched to the field with more cheerful alac- 
rity."* 

But alas ! If he had entertained any gloomy 
forebodings, they were but too fatally realized. 
In their flight, Hibbard and Carey took to a field 
of rye, tall, and ready for the sickle. The former 
being in advance, broke the path for his junior 
comrade ; and in doing so, by the time they had 
crossed the field, he became fatigued almost to 
exhaustion. Their object was to escape to the 
island already mentioned; but the Indians were 
in hot pursuit, and Hibbard was overtaken just 
as he had gained the sandy beach, and ere he could 
reach the stream. He turned to defend himself, 
but in the same instant fell transfixed by the spear 
of his dusky pursuer. 

*Hazlcton Travellers. 

25 



^66 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Young Carey was more fortunate. Having 
been less fatigued in the rye field than his com- 
panion who had broken the way, he was enabled 
to continue his flight farther down the river, be- 
fore he attempted crossing to the island. The 
Indians, however, watching his movements, swam 
the river above more rapidly than himself, and he 
reached the island only to become their prisoner. 
He was then compelled to recross the river by 
swimming, and carried back to Fort Wintermoot. 
This defence had been fired by the enemy them- 
selves, and was yet in flames when Carey reached 
it. The painfulness of the scene was increased 
by the sight of the bodies of one or more of his 
neighbors, which had been thrown upon the burn- 
ing pile — 

" By the smoke of their ashes to poison the gale :" 

but whether they had been thus disposed before 
or after death, he could not tell. He had been 
stripped to his skin previous to leaving the island, 
and was threatened with menacing strokes of the 
scalping knife. 

But his life was reserved for another destiny. 
It appeared that his captor was Captain Roland 
Montour, of whose mother an account has already 
been given. After passing the night, bound to the 
earth, he was accosted the next morning by Col. 
John Butler himself, who reminded the stripling 
of a threat he had made on the preceding day, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 267 

that '' he would comb the Colonel's hair," which 
threat had been repeated to the Tory commander. 
Montour then came and unbound him, and after 
giving him some food, led him to a young Indian 
warrior who was dying. A conversation ensued 
between the captor and the dying warrior, which 
Carey did not then understand. It afterward ap- 
peared that Montour was negotiating with the young 
warrior for the adoption of Carey by the Indian's 
parents, after the custom of those people, as a sub- 
stitute for the son they were then losing. The 
dying Indian assented to the arrangement, and the 
life of the prisoner was saved. He was painted, 
and received the name of him whose place he was 
destined to take in the Indian family- -Co-con-e- 
un-quo — of the Onondaga tribe. 

On the retreat of the enemy, Carey was taken 
into the Indian country with them, and handed 
over to the family of which he had now become 
a member. But though treated with kindness by 
the Indians, he was too old to be broken into their 
habits of life. He sighed for his liberty and the 
associations of his own kindred and people. His 
new parents saw that he was not likely to become 
a contented child, and as consequently the place 
of the one they had lost was not filled, they mourn- 
ed their own son even as David mourned for Ab- 
salom. Mr. Carey gives a touching account of 
their sorrow. Often did he hear them, as they 



268 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

awoke at day-break, setting up their pitiful cry 
for their son. And as the sun sank to rest behind 
the purple hills at evening, they would repeat the 
same wailing lament. 

He resided with this family in the Indian coun- 
try more than two years, after which he was taken 
to Niagara, where he remained until the end of 
the war, and the surrender of the prisoners. It 
was on the 29th of June, 17S4, that he once more 
found himself in the bosom of the vale of Wyo- 
ming. He subsequently married Theresa Gore, a 
daughter of Captain Daniel Gore, who was him- 
self in the battle, and five of whose brothers and 
brothers-in-law were slain, as the reader has alrea- 
dy been informed. He has resided in the valley 
ever since, and although the morning of his life 
was stormy and sad, yet, surrounded by his sons 
and daughters and their descendants, its evening 
is tranquil and serene. There were two other Ca- 
reys engaged in the action, Joseph and Samuel, 
both of whom fell. But they were of another 
family. The family of the Samuel Carey, of whom 
some account has been given already, were from 
the county of Dutchess in the State of New-York. 

A brief history of another family of sufferers 
will perhaps be interesting. Among the early 
settlers of the valley was a respectable man named 
John Abbott, who, at the time of the invasion, had 
a family consisting of a wife and nine children. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 269 

As has already been stated, more than once, there 
was but a single field-piece in the valley, which 
was kept at the little fort of Wilkesbarre, to be 
used as an alarm gun. On the approach of dan- 
ger, it was announced from its brazen throat, and 
the inhabitants obeyed the signal by rallying for 
the common defence. When the news of the in- 
vasion by the Tories and Indians reached Wilkes- 
barre, Abbott was at work with his oxen upon the 
flats, whence he was summoned by the well-known 
sound of alarm. Though as a husband, and the 
parent of nine young children, the eldest of whom 
was but eleven years old, all depending upon his 
labor for support, he might well have been excused 
from going into battle, yet he sought no exemp- 
tion. The danger was imminent, and with as 
much alacrity as his neighbors he hastened to the 
battle-field. In the retreat he succeeded, by the 
aid of a comrade, for he could not swim, in cross- 
ing to Monockonock Island, and thence to the 
main land on the east of the river, and was thus 
enabled to eftect his escape. 

In the flight of the inhabitants, Mr. Abbott re- 
moved his family down the Susquehanna to Sun- 
bury ; but having left his property behind — his 
flocks and herds — he being an opulent farmer 
for those days — and his fields waving with a rich 
burden of grain nearly ready for the harvest, he 
returned to look after the fruit of his labors. This 
25* 



27<0 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

measure was indeed necessary, for the product of 
his farm was his only dependence for the support 
of his family. But sad was the spectacle that 
met his view on his return. His house and his 
barn had been burnt, his cattle slaughtered or 
driven away, and his fields ravaged. The glean- 
ings only remained to require his attention. 
These he attempted to gather, but in doing so, 
while engaged in the field with a neighbor named 
Isaac Williams, a young man, or rather youth of 
eighteen years, of fine promise, they were shot by 
a party of Indians who stole upon them unawares, 
scalped, and left dead upon the spot.* 

The widow, with her helpless charge, being 
now entirely destitute, was compelled to seek her 
way back to Hampton, an eastern town in Con- 
necticut, whence they had emigrated, a distance 
of more than three hundred miles, on ibot — pen- 
nyless, heart-broken, and dependent upon charity 
for subsistence. But the journey was effected 
without loss of life or limb ; and the widowed 
Naomi was not more kindly received by the people 
of Bethlehem, on her return from the land of Moab, 
than were Mrs. Abbot and her infant charge by 
their former friends and neighbors. She remained 
at Hampton several years after the troubles were 
over, and until her sons were grown up. Return* 

* This Mr. Abbot built the first house in the borough of Wilkesbarr4. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 271 

ing then to the valley, and reclaiming successfully 
the estate of her husband, she settled thereon with 
her family, married a celebrated wit named Ste- 
phen Gardiner, and continued to live there until 
her decease. Her son, Stephen Abbott, an inde- 
pendent and respectable farmer, still resides upon 
the eastern margin of the Susquehanna, opposite 
the site of Fort Forty. 

The Williams family, to which Isaac, the young 
man whose murder in connection with that of Mr. 
Abbott has just been related, was distinguished for 
its patriotism and bravery. The father was Thad- 
deus Williams, and his house stood not far from 
Fort Wyoming, in the borough of Wilkesbarre. 
He had a son, Thomas, who was a sergeant in the 
regular service, and who, with short intermissions, 
served with distinguished gallantry during the 
greater part of the war. It was mentioned in the 
preceding chapter, that in the month of March, 
1779, while Captain Spalding was in command of 
Fort Wyoming, a sudden irruption of tories and 
Indians took place, by whom the fort was surround- 
ed. Happily, however, a few discharges of the 
only field-piece in the fortress put them to flight. 
But the severest battle fought during this irruption 
was between the Indians and Sergeant Thomas 
Williams, who happened to be at home on fur- 
lough. His father, who had removed back to the 
valley, with others, after the general desolation the 



272 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

year before, was at this time indisposed, and in bed. 
The only other male in the house, besides the ser- 
geant, was a younger brother twelve or thirteen 
years old. The position of Williams's house was 
such, that the Indians determined to take and de- 
stroy it previous to their meditated attack upon 
the garrison. There were three loaded muskets 
in the house, and plenty of ammunition. Seeing 
the Indians approaching his castle, the sergeant 
made his dispositions for defence. He barrica- 
ded the doors, and getting his guns ready, gave 
his little brother the necessary directions for load- 
ing them as often as he fired. He was a man of 
too much coolness and experience to waste his am- 
munition. Waiting, therefore, until the Indians 
had approached very near, Williams took deliber- 
ate aim between the logs of which the house was 
constructed, and brought their leader dead to the 
ground. With a hideous yell his comrades re- 
treated, dragging away the body. They advanced 
again, and assaulted the door, which was too well 
secured easily to yield. Their numbers were now 
increased, and they in turn fired into the house, 
through the interstices between the logs. By one 
of these shots Mr. Williams, the father, was se- 
verely wounded in his bed ; but the sergeant kept 
up as brisk a fire as his little brother, who acted 
his part manfully, could enable him to do, and a 
second and a third of the savages fell. They 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 273 

again retreated, taking away their slain, and rais- 
ing their customary death howls. Maddened by 
their loss, however, they again approached, one 
of them bearing a flaming brand, with which they 
were resolved to fire the house. But with delib- 
erate aim the sergeant brought the incendiary to 
the ground, whereupon the Indians seized his body 
and drew off, without again returning to the as- 
sault. How many more than the four enumera- 
ted were slain by the brave sergeant was not 
known, because the Indians always carry off their 
dead. Beyond doubt, the lives of the whole fami- 
ly were saved by his intrepidity, and that of his 
heroic little brother. The sergeant is yet living 
in the valley, an opulent and respectable farmer. 

Another family upon whom the blow fell with 
great force and severity, was that of Mr. Jona- 
than Weeks. He resided upon a large farm, with 
his sons and sons-in-law, about a mile below the 
borough of Wilkesbarre. He had living with 
him, at the time of the alarm, his three sons, Phil- 
ip, Jonathan, and Bartholomew ; Silas Bene- 
dict, a son-in-law ; Jabel Beers, an uncle ; Josiah 
Carman, a cousin ; and a boarder, named Robert 
Bates. These seven men from a single house- 
hold all seized their arms and hurried to the field. 
And they all fell with their Captain, whose name 
was M'Carrican, a man of letters and teacher of 
the hamlet school. Two days after the battle, a 



274 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

party of twenty Indians visited the house of Mr. 
Weeks, and demanded breakfast. Having obtain- 
ed their demand, they next informed Mr. Weeks 
that he must quit the valley forthwith. The old 
man remonstrated. ^' All my sons have fallen," 
said he with emotion ; " and here am I left with 
fourteen grand-children, all young and helpless." 
But the dusky conquerors were inexorable : nev- 
ertheless, having gorged themselves with blood al- 
ready, and having moreover satisfied their appe- 
tites for the morning, they did not wantonly apply 
the tomahawk again. The leader of this party was 
an Indian named Anthony Turkey, — a fellow who 
had been well known to the settlers as one of the 
former residents of the valley, when both races 
lived together in friendship. The appearance of 
Turkey among the invaders was a source of 
surprise, because of his former friendship. But he 
proved as thoroughly savage as the wildest of his 
race ; and notwithstanding his former acquaint- 
ance with Mr. Weeks, he would not allow the 
bereft old man to remain upon his farm. Still, 
in driving him away, the Indians so far temper- 
ed their decree with mercy as to allow him his 
oxen and wagon, with which he took the sob- 
bing women and their little ones back to the 
county of Orange, (New-York,) whence they 
had emigrated to Wyoming. But the Indian 
leader, Turkey, afterward met the fate he de- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 275 

served, in this place. Returning with the par- 
ty of tories and Indians who invaded the valley 
a second time in March, 1779, as just related in 
the case of the Williams family, he was shot 
through the thigh in the engagement which took 
place on the flats, and before his people could 
carry him away he was surrounded by the Wy- 
oming boys who called out to him — " Surren- 
der, Turkey, — we won't hurt you." But he 
refused, and resisted like a chafed tiger, until it 
became necessary to make an end of him. After 
the enemy were gone, the lads took the body of 
Turkey, and set it up-right in a canoe, all painted 
to their hands, and grinning horribly with the mus- 
cular contortions of death. They then placed a 
bow and arrows in his hand, and sent him adrift, 
amidst the cheers of men and boys. The canoe, 
thus freighted, created some sensation as it passed 
below^ and was the cause of several amusing in- 
cidents. In one case a man put off in a canoe to 
take the straggler ; but catching a glimpse of the 
ferocious countenance of the Indian, and fancy- 
ing that he was drawing his bow to let fly a pois- 
oned arrow, he paddled back to the shore with all 
convenient expedition. 

Yet another case will be briefly related. It is 
that of a Mr. Skinner, whose baptismal name has 
not been preserved. Mrs. Esther Skinner died in 
Torringford, Connecticut, in the year 1831, aged 



276 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

one hundred years. She had been one of the 
earhest white residents of Wyoming. In the mas- 
sacre she lost her husband, two sons, and a bro- 
ther, all of whom fell beneath the tomahawk, — 
she herself escaping, with six of her children, as 
it were by a miracle. Her son-in-law was almost 
the only man of twenty who threw themselves into 
the river, and attempted to hide themselves beneath 
the foliage depending from the banks into the wa- 
ter, that escaped. All the others were successive- 
ly massacred while sustaining themselves in the 
water by the branches of the trees that dipped into 
it. He alone was undiscovered. The lone mother 
travelled back to Torringford, where she led a 
useful life to its close. She was sometimes cheer- 
ful, though a cloud of heaviness, brought on by 
her sorrows, was never entirely dissipated. 

Among the names most intimately connected 
with the history of Wyoming during the period 
under review, is that of Moses Van Campen. Ma- 
jor Van Campen, — for such was his legitimate 
title in the service before the close of the contest, 
— first served as a private in the year 1777, upon 
Grand Island, situatetl in the west branch of the 
Susquehanna. In the following year he was com- 
missioned a lieutenant, and stationed in the valley 
of the Susquehanna, between Northumberland 
and Wyoming, where he erected a small fort for 
the protection of the scattered settlers of the neigh- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 277 

borhoo-i, the inhabitants of which in seasons of 
alarm took refuge within its walls. Before his little 
defence had been completed, it was gallantly and 
succes fully defended against two successive at- 
tacks by strong bodies of Indians, whose toma- 
hawks were nevertheless bathed in the blood of 
several families upon that section of the border. 

When, in the year 1779, General Sullivan as- 
cended the Susquehanna and Chemung rivers in 
his march into the Indian country to avenge the 
butcheries of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, lieu- 
tenant Van Campen was advanced to the post of 
quarter-master ; but being a man of approved 
coumge and activity, well skilled in the subtleties 
of Indian warfare, his duties were by no means 
confined to the commissariat. Previous to the 
battle of Newtown, in which the Indians under 
Brant, and the American loyalists of Sir John John- 
son and Colonel John Butler were signally defeated 
by the united forces of Sullivan and Clinton, Ma- 
jor Van Campen was sent forward, under the 
disguise of an Indian warrior, — dressed, painted, 
and plumed, — to ascertain the numbers and con- 
dition of the enemy, — a task which he executed 
with complete success. Passing their out-posts in 
the night, he entered their camp, visited their fires, 
and computed, with sufficient accuracy, the number 
of the warriors slumbering around them. In the 

attack upon a division of the enemy, preceding the 
26 



278 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

main battle, by the brigade of General Hand, Ma- 
jor Van Campen was in the advance, contributing 
actively to the success of that brilliant affair.* 

At the close of Sullivan's campaign, a severe at- 
tack of bilious fever compelled Major Van Campen 
to retire from the service, and return to the resi- 
dence of his father, in the vicinity of his former 
station below Wyoming, upon the Susquehanna. 
The savages had been so effectually subdued by 
the operations of Sullivan, that apprehensions of 
farther outrages upon the border were measurably 
allayed, and the scattered inhabitants were prepar- 
ing to resume their field labors in the spring of 
the following year with comparative unconcern. 
Toward the close of March, Major Van Campen 
left the fort with his father and a brother, to work 
upon the farm, accompanied also by an uncle and 
his son, a lad of twelve years of age, and a man 
named Peter Pence — the uncle having a farm to 
attend in the same vicinity. 

Suddenly, on the 30th of March, while in the 
field, the Major and his father were attacked by a 
party of ten Indians, who stole so warily upon 
them that flight was impossible. The uncle had 
already been killed upon his own plantation ; the 
lad and Pence being now in company, bound pris- 



* For the fullest and best historical narrative of Sullivan's memorable 
expedition into the Indian country, see the author's Life of Joseph Brant — 
Thayendanegea, Vol. II. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 279 

oners. The Major's father was thrust through the 
lungs with a spear in the first onset, and his throat 
instantly cut. The lad, his brother, was likewise 
struck down with a tomahawk, scalped, and his 
body cast into a fire blazing near by. As the 
warrior who had slain the elder Van Campen drew 
the spear from his body, he made a lunge at the 
Major, already engaged apparently in a death 
struggle with another Indian ; but not poising his 
weapon with skill, a slight flesh wound only was 
inflicted, while the barb became entangled in the 
clothes of the intended victim. Sated, for the 
time, with blood, after a brief struggle the sava- 
ges contented themselves with making the Major 
a prisoner, and w^th his youthful cousin, and the 
man Pence, he was marched away in the direction 
of the Six Nations' country. In descending the 
valley of the Susquehanna the Indians had skirted 
the Wyoming settlements and committed some 
aggressions. In returning, on the same after- 
noon, they fell in with a party of four men engaged 
in making maple-sugar, upon whom they fired — 
wounding one man. Captain Ransom, who, how- 
ever, escaped with the others. Encamping at 
night, after building their fires the prisoners were 
bound and well secured, the Indians sleeping five 
upon either side of them. On the second day of 
their march, w^hile yet in the Wyoming region, they 
found one Abraham Pike, with his wife and child. 



280 HISTORY OF WYOMING* 

Placing the mark of prisoners upon the latter two, 
they were suffered to "go" ; but Pike was taken 
away, and at night they were all bound and guard- 
ed as before. Reflecting that they had probably 
been spared by their captors to grace a war- 
feast on returning- to their villages, in the course 
of which they would be put to death by torture. 
Van Campen began now to meditate an escape — 
a feat, he was well aware, only to be achieved by 
putting the Indians to death. The daring sugges- 
tion was cautiously imparted to his fellow prison- 
ers on the third day of their captivity ; but it wa& 
not until the fourth that a reluctant assent was ob- 
tained from his associates. Pence and Pike — the 
lad being too young for a combatant. The sleep 
of the Indians, it is well known, is very deep and 
heavy ; and Van Campen's proposal was that on the 
next night, after waiting until their grim guardians 
were in a profound slumber, they should contrive 
to extricate themselves in some way from the 
cords with which they were bound, and in the 
next place cautiously disarm the Indians. This 
effected, Van Campen intended that himself. 
Pence, and Pike, armed with tomahawks, should 
each, by as many blows, dispatch three of the 
sleepers before any of them should have time to 
to arouse for resistance. Nine of them being thus 
disposed of and the tenth unarmed, the three 
could have nothing serious to apprehend from him. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 281 

Bat although the project was obviously well 
conceived, neither Pence nor Pike would agree to 
the details beyond the disarming. That object 
attained, they proposed that one of their number 
should be stationed with the fire-arms of the Indians, 
to be removed a few paces from the camp, which 
should be used with the best possible effect, while 
the other two were to attack with tomahawks, and 
ply them as briskly and fatally as possible during 
the confusion which would ensue on the first dis- 
charge of a musket. In this hazardous deviation 
from his plan Van Campen was obliged to acqui- 
esce ; and the duty of firing the muskets, from a 
point of comparative safety, was assigned to Pence. 

Encamping as usual at dark, the Indians were 
remarkably diligent and attentive in providing an 
abundance of fuel for the night ; and a roaring fire 
having been built, they all lay down to sleep — the 
prisoners being carefully bound as before. Prov- 
idence, however, favored the design of escape, for 
one of the Indians, while adjusting himself for the 
night, dropped his knife, without perceiving it, close 
by Van Campen^s feet. Of course the latter failed 
not to avail himself of this important weapon ; and 
at midnight, perceiving that the warriors were all 
in a profound slumber, the Major arose, and with 
the knife quietly severed the cords upon his own 
limbs and those of his fellow prisoners. He was 
himself to strike the three Indians upon the right 



26 



* 



282 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



wing, and Pike the two upon the left, while Pence 
should do such execution as he could with the guns. 
Just as they were about to strike, the two warriors 
allotted to Pike awoke ; whereupon, like a coward, 
as he proved to be, he again lay down in his place, 
as though all was well. Not so Van Campen, who 
saw that in an instant more all would be lost. 
Quick as lightning, therefore, he darted upon the 
two awaking savages, and planting his tomahawk 
deep into their heads, left them quivering in death. 
Three more blows, equally well directed, witli the 
rapidity of thought, ended the lives of the three as 
allotted to him at the first. Pence fired at the same 
instant, with wonderful judgment and accuracy 
— killing four of the remaining five. One only 
was left — a stalwart savage named Mohawk, wiio 
sprang to his feet with the discharge of the guns, 
and uttering the war-whoop, darted to take posses- 
sion of them. Van Campen sprang after him 
to defeat his purpose, aiming a blow at his head 
with a tomahawk, but missing, struck him in the 
shoulder, or rather in the back of his neck. The 
Indian pitched forward and fell — and Van Cam- 
pen's foot slipping at the same instant, he also fell 
by his side. They clenched, and a struggle of 
several moments ensued, during which the Major 
endeavored to dispatch him with his own knife. 
Mohawk, however, succeeded in disengaging him- 
gelf, and springing to his feet, plunged into the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

woods and fled. The transaction was one of sur- 
prizing bravery, — of darkness and of blood. Yet 
it was not unrelieved by an incident, or rather side- 
act, of a ludicrous character ; for while Van Campen 
and Mohawk lay strugghng, grasped in each other's 
arms upon the ground as in the hug of death, Pike 
was attempting to pray, and Pence stood swearing 
at him for his cowardice. 

The victory, however, was complete. Nine of 
the ten warriors lay before them dead ; and it 
only remained for the victors to secure the spoils, 
and wend their way back to Wyoming before Mo- 
hawk should be able to return upon them with re- 
inforcements. Having secured the arms, blankets, 
and supplies of the dead, taken their scalps, and 
recovered also those of his father, his uncle, and 
his brother. Van Campen caused a rude raft to be 
constructed — for the brave action 1 have recorded 
occurred upon the bank of the Susquehanna not 
far from Tioga, — upon which he embarked with 
his little party, and in due season they all reached 
their homes in safety. On their passage, howev- 
er, they had several alarms. Pike, in every instance, 
sustaining his character as an arrant coward.* 

* And yet this man, Pike, who deceased only a few years ago, lived 
and died, in the popular estimation, a hero, or rather the Jiero of the trans- 
action recorded in the te.\t. 1 have now hefore me a manuscript narra- 
tive, written from the personal relation of Pike, in 18J9, l>y the Rev. Dr. 
Peck, then of Wyoming, but now of New-York, in which he makes 
himself the planner and the hero, of the whole aflair. Rut such was not 
the fact. The account given in the text I have written with the narrative 



284 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

The Indian, Mohawk, recovered from his wound, 
and in process of time, by the removal of Van 
Campen into the neighborhood of his village, they 
became acquainted. The effect of the wound 
was such as to contract, or perhaps to destroy, 
some of the muscles of Mohawk's neck, by rea- 
son of which he could never carry his head erect 
afterward. He was for a time shy of seeing Ma- 
jor Van Campen ; but finding that the latter cher- 
ished no hostility toward him, he subsequently be- 
came his frequent visiter. 

Among the residents of Wyoming who long sur- 
vived the scenes that have been faintly sketched, 
was Mrs. Phebe Young, a lady eminent for her 
piety and worth, who died in August, 1839, at the 
advanced age of ninety years. She retained her 
faculties of mind and memory until her decease, 
and as her temperament was cheerful, and her col- 
loquial powers pleasing, her society was courted 
until she was summoned to depart from the bright 
spot which for so long a period in her youth she 
had known literally as a vale of tears. Mrs. 
Young was a native of the ancient Dutch town of 

of Major Van Campen before me. lie yet (1844) lives in the western sec- 
tion of New York, a citizen, venerable for his years, and of great respec- 
tability. His veracity is not to be questioned ; while the character of 
Pike, through life, was not only questionable, but sometimes bad. He 
was shrewd, but faithless. It is said of him that he often committed petty 
larcenies ; but when called to an acconnt for tliem pleaded his soldier- 
ship, his siifTirings, and his exploits, and the inhabitants were induced 
by his af peali to shut their eyes to his offences. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 285 

JEsopus, in the state of New- York, whence she 
emigrated to Wyoming at the age of twenty, in 
the year 1769. There were in Wyoming, at that 
period, only five white females, including herself. 
The Indians were then in the quiet possession of 
the circumjacent country, excepting the sections 
that had been entered upon by the whites ; and 
the relations of Mrs. Young and her friends with 
them, were of the most friendly character. Hav- 
ing taken up her residence there thus early, Mrs. 
Young was of course a participator in all the hard- 
ships and deprivations incident to the commence- 
ment of a settlement in the woods at a distance 
so remote from the abodes of civilization. She 
was also a spectator of, and consequently a suffer- 
er in, the bitter civil feuds which for so many years 
distracted the valley. On the day of tlie battle 
and massacre, while the men were preparing them- 
selves for the contest, and making such hasty dis- 
positions as they could for the security of their 
families, she, and her children, were furnished by 
her husband with a canoe, and advised to hasten 
from the valley down the Susquehanna at once ; 
but she was unwilling to depart until she could 
learn the result of the impending contest. She 
therefore took refuge, with her children, in a small 
house near the river, at the distance of several 
miles below the battle ground. A portion of the 
family of Colonel Dennison were with her. As 



286 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the evening of the fatal day approached, she lull- 
ed her children to sleep, and with her friends 
watched, with a solicitude that cannot be descri- 
bed, until midnight. Then was heard the approach- 
ing tramp of horses at full speed. They hastened 
to the door to receive them, and the tidings were, 
'' all is lost, and the Indians are sweeping down 
the valley !" Gathering her children from the floor 
upon which they were dreaming in happy uncon- 
sciousness of what had passed, she placed them 
in a canoe, and launched forth upon the river, to 
be wafted by its current whither it might. The 
moon shone sweetly upon the water, and in pass- 
ing her own house, all was quiet, and the cow 
stood ruminating by the door. She kept in her 
canoe, borne rapidly along by the stream, until she 
arrived in Lancaster county, where resided the 
friends of her husband, among whom she remain- 
ed until after the campaign of General Sullivan 
against the Indian country in 1779. Her return 
was to a valley of desolation — every person she 
met was a mourner — the relics of " a people scat- 
tered and peeled." Mrs. Young never afterward 
left Wyoming : nor for many years previous to 
her decease had she moved beyond the limits of 
the borough of Wilkesbarre, except on the in- 
teresting occasion, three or four years ago, when 
the common grave of those who fell in the massa- 
cre was opened '' for the purpose of founding a 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 2S7 

monument to their memory. All the survivors of 
the times of Indian troubles were assembled, and 
Mrs. Young was sent for as one of them. The 
spectators of what took place on that occasion 
can never forget it. The bones of slaughtered 
brothers and fathers, marked with the tomahawk 
and the scalping-knife and the rifle, were opened 
to view ; and as the vast assembly marched around 
the grave, the old, who had shared in the sorrows 
of the first settlers of the valley, wept at the re- 
collection of what they had known, and the young 
wept in sympathy because they had heard from 
their fathers' lips the unhappy story of their na- 
tive valley. Mrs. Young could share largely in 
the feelings of that occasion, for many of those 
whose bones were there collected she had person- 
ally known as neighbors ; but she did not seek to 
be present. It was only the urgent solicitations 
of a respected neighbor, who was himself a sur- 
vivor of the * Indian troubles,' and the remnant of 
a family cut off in the massacre, that prevailed 
and induced her to go. She never left the town 
again."* For sixty years Mrs. Young never look- 
ed upon the world beyond the narrow barriers of 
Wyoming. 

* Tribiif to the niftmory of Mrs. Young, b.v the Rev, Mr. May, her pas- 
tor, published in the London Episcopal Recorder. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Slocum familj',— Two of them in the battle of Wyoming,— Perilous 
Escape of Giles Slocum,— Murder of the elder Slocum and his father-in- 
law, — Story of the Lost Sister,— Her captivity, — Long-continued efforts 
for her discovery, — Disappointments, — Found sixty years afterward by 
Colonel Ewing, — Correspondence, — Visit of the surviving brothers and 
sister to the Miami country, — The recognition, — Narrative of the lost 
one, — Refuses to return with her relations,— The visit repeated. 

The Slocum family of Wyoming were distin- 
guished for their sufferings during the war of the 
revolution, and have been recently brought more 
conspicuously before the public in connection 
with the life of a long lost but recently discovered 
sister. The story of the family opens with trage- 
dy, and ends in romance without fiction. 

Mr. Jonathan Slocum, the father of the subject 
of the present narrative, was a non-combatant, — 
being a member of the society of Friends. Not 
so, however, all the members of his family. His 
eldest son, Giles, was in the battle, as also was his 
brother-in-law, named Hugh Forsman. The ju- 
nior escaped to Monockonock island, and though 
hotly pursued, succeeded in burying himself in the 
sand and bushes so as to elude discovery until 
the following day, when he made good his retreat 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 289 

to Fort Forty. While lying thus in concealment, 
his pursuers fell upon another fugitive whom they 
slew, notwithstanding his entreaties for mercy. 
Forsman was a subaltern in Captain Hewett's 
company, and was one of the fifteen of that corps 
who escaped the slaughter, and the only man of 
them who brought in his gun.* Yet the father, 
feeling himself safe in his pacific principles from 
the hostility even of the savages, did not join 
the survivors of the massacre in their flight, but 
remained quietly upon his farm, — his house stand- 
ing in close proximity to the village of Wilkes- 
barre. But his faith had little weight with the 
Indians, notwithstanding the affection with which 
their race had been treated by the founder of 
Quakerism in Pennsylvania, — the illustrious Penn, 
— and long had the family cause to mourn their 
imprudence in not retreating from the doomed 
valley with their neighbors. , 

It was in the autumn of the same year of the 
invasion by Butler and Gi-en-gwah-toh, at mid- 
day, when the men were laboring in a distant 
field, that the house of Mr. Slocum was suddenly 
surrounded by a party of Delawares, prowling 
about the valley, in more earnest search, as it 
seemed, of plunder than of scalps or prisoners. — 
The inmates of the house, at the moment of the 

* Wyoming Memorial to Congiesg. 

27 



290 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

surprise, were Mrs. Slocum and four young chil- 
dren, the eldest of whom was a son aged thirteen, 
the second a daughter, aged nine, the third, Fran- 
ces Slocum, aged five, and a little son aged two 
years and a half. Near by the house, engaged 
in grinding a knife, was a youth named Kingsley, 
assisted in the opemtion by a lad. The first hos- 
tile act of the Indians was to shoot down Kings- 
ley, and take his scalp with the knife he had been 
sharpening. Kingsley, the father of the youth 
thus murdered, had been previously taken prison- 
er by the Indians, and was then in captivity, — 
Mrs. K. and her child having found a temporary 
home in the family of the Quaker.* 

The girl nine years old appears to have had 
the most presence of mind, for while the mother 
ran into the edge of a copse of wood near by, and 
Frances attempted to secrete herself behind a 
stair-case, the former at the moment seized her 
little brother, the youngest above mentioned, and 
ran off in the direction of the fort. True, she 
could not make rapid progress, for she clung to 
the child, and not even the pursuit of the savages 
could induce her to drop her charge. The In- 
dians did not pursue her far, and laughed hearti- 
ly at the panic of the little girl, while they could 
not but admire her resolution. Allowing her to 
make her escape, they returned to the house, and 

• Wyoming Memorial to Congress. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 291 

after helping themselves to such articles as they 
chose, prepared to depart. 

The mother seems to have been unobserved by 
them, although, with a yearning bosom, she had 
so disposed of herself that while she was screened 
from observation she could notice all that occur- 
red. But judge of her feelings at the moment when 
they were about to depart, as she saw little Frances 
taken from her hiding place, and preparations 
made to carry her away into captivity, with her 
brother, already mentioned as being thirteen years 
old, (who, by the way, had been restrained from 
attempted flight by lameness in one of his feet,) 
and also the lad who a few moments before was 
assisting Kingsley at the grindstone. The sight 
was too much for maternal tenderness to endure. 
Rushing from her place of concealment, therefore, 
she threw herself upon her knees at the feet of 
her captors, and with the most earnest entreaties 
pleaded for their restoration. But their bosoms 
were made of sterner stuff than to yield even to 
the most eloquent and affectionate of a mother's 
entreaties, and with characteristic stoicism they " 
began to remove. As a last resort the mother ap- 
pealed to their selfishness, and pointing to the 
maimed foot of her crippled son, urged as a reason 
why at least they should relinquish him. the de- 
lays and embarrassments he would occasion them 
in their journey. Being unable to walk, they 



^9:^ HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

would of course be compelled to carry him the 
whole distance, or leave him by the way, or take 
his life. Although insensible to the feelings of 
humanity, these considerations had the desired 
effect. The lad was left behind, while deaf alike 
to the cries of the mother, and the shrieks of the 
child, Frances was slung over the shoulder of a 
stalwart Indian with as much indifference as 
though she were a slaughtered fawn. 

The long, lingering look which the mother gave 
to her child, as her captors disappeared in the for- 
est, was the last glimpse of her sweet features that 
she ever had. But the vision was for many a long 
year ever present to her fancy. As the Indian 
threw her child over his shoulder, her hair fell over 
her face, and the mother could never forget how 
the tears streamed down her cheeks, when she 
brushed it away as if to catch a last sad look of the 
mother, from whom, her little arms outstretched, 
she implored assistance in vain. Nor was this the 
last visit of the savages to the domicil of Mr. Slo- 
cum. In the month of December following, no 
Indians having been recently seen in the neigbor- 
hood, Jonathan Slocum, with his son William, and 
Mr. Isaac Tripp, an old man, father of Mrs. Slo- 
cum, ventured forth to feed their cattle unattended 
by a guard. But a horde of savages who had sto- 
len down unobserved from the mountains, were 
lurking in the neighborhood of the fold, from 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 293 

whom, on descrying them, the little party, with a 
single exception, attempted in vain to escape. 
Mr. Tripp, the elder of the three, on being first 
overtaken, fell, nine times pierced through the body 
vvith a spear. A musket ball brought the elder 
Slocum dead to the ground, and both were scalped 
and otherwise mangled, while William, with a leg 
wounded by a spent ball, succeeded in gaining the 
fort.=^' That ball he carried in his flesh to the grave, 
more than half a century afterward. 

These events cast a sliadow over the remaining 
years of Mrs. Slocum. She lived to see many 
bright and sunny days in that beautiful valley — 
bright and sunny, alas ! to her no longer. She 
mourned for the lost one, of whom no tidings, at 
least during her pilgrimage, could be obtained. — 
After her sons grew up, the youngest of whom, by 
the way, was born but a few months subsequent 
to the events already narrated, obedient to the 
charge of their mother, the most unwearied efforts 
were made to ascertain what had been the fate of 
the lost sister. The forests between the Susquehan- 
na and the great lakes, and even the more distant 
wilds of Canada, were traversed by the brothers 
in vain, nor could any information respecting her 
be derived from the Indians.f Once, indeed, du- 

* Wyoming Memorial to Congress. 

t In the Narrative of Colonel Tiiomiis Proctor, a Commissioner deputed 
hy Gen. Knox, then Secretary of War, upon a mission to the Northwestern 
Indians, in 1791, under date of Slarch 2Sth, is this entry : — " I was joined 

21* 



5^94 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ring an excursion of one of the brothers into the 
vast wilds of the west, a white woman, long a 
captive, came to Iiim in the hope of finding a bro- 
tlier : but after many anxious efl'orts to discover 
evidences of relationship, the failure was as deci- 
sive as it was mutuallv sad. There was vet another 
kindred occurrence, still more painful. One of 
tlie many hapless female captives in the Indian 
country, becoming acquainted with the inquiries 
prosecuting by the Slocum family, presented herself 
to Mrs. Slocum, trusting that in her she might find 
her own long lost mother. Mrs. Slocum was 
touched by her appearance, and fain would have 
claimed her if she could. She led the stranger 
about the house and yards, to see if there were 
any recollections by which she could be identified 
as her own lost one. But there was nothing writ- 
ten upon the pages of memory to warrant the desired 
conclusion ; and the hapless captive returned in bit- 
ter disappointment to her forest home.* In process 
of time these efibrts were all relinquislied as hope- 
less. The lost one might have falien beneath the 
tomahawk, or might h>ave proved too tender a 
flow^er for transplantation into the wilderness. — 

by Mr. George Slocum, wlio followed us from Wyomins:, to place hiui?clf 
uuder our protection and assistance, until he should reach the Cornplant- 
er's settlement, on the head waters of the Mleuhany, for the redeeming of 
Ills sister from an unplL-asiny: captivity of twelve years, ro which end he 
begged our immediate interposition." — Vide Indian State Poprrs. 

* Slor^ of (he Lost Sister, written for children, from authentic materials, 
b) the Bev. J. Tudd. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



295 



Conjecture was baffled, and the mother, with a sad 
heart, sank into the grave, as also did the father, 
believing with the Hebrew patriarch that " the 
child was not." 

The years of a generation passed, and the mem- 
ory of little Frances was forgotten, save by two 
brothers and a sister, who, though advanced in 
the vale of life, could not forget the family tradi- 
tion of the lost one. Indeed it had been the dy- 
ing charge of their mother that they must never 
relinquish their exertions to discover Frances. A 
change now comes over the spirit of the story. It 
happened that in the course of the year 1 835, 
Colonel Ewing, a gentleman connected with the 
Indian trade, and also with the public service of 
the country, in traversing a remote section of In- 
diana, was overtaken by the night, while at a 
distance from the abodes of civilized man. AVhen 
it became too dark for him to pursue his way, he 
sought an Indian habitation, and was so fortunate 
as to find shelter and a welcome in one of the 
better sort. The proprietor of the lodge was in- 
deed opulent for an Indian, — possessing horses 
and skins, and other comforts in abundance. He 
was struck in the course of the evening by the 
appearance of the venerable mistress of the lodge, 
whose complexion was lighter than that of her 
family, and as glimpses were occasionally disclosed 
of her skin beneath her blanket-robe, the Colonel 



296 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

was impressed with the opinion that she was a 
white woman. Colonel Ewing could converse in 
the Miami language, to which nation his host be- 
longed, and after partaking of the best of their 
cheer, he drew the aged squaw into a conversation, 
which soon confirmed his suspicions that she was 
only an Indian by adoption. Indeed she frankly 
confessed the fact, and proceeded to give her guest 
a rapid sketch of her Ufe, — a narrative of absorb- 
ing interest which made a deep impression upon 
his mind. 

In the course of her statement she mentioned 
that her family name was Slocum, and that she 
had been stolen from somewiiere in the valley of 
the Susquehanna. But of circumstances calcula- 
ted to throw more light upon her early history, or 
designating the particular section of the Susque- 
hanna country whence she had been torn, she 
could remember no more. Still, for many months 
afterw^ard the family at Wyoming were ignorant 
of the discovery, nor did Colonel Ewing know 
any thing of them. And it was only by reason of 
a peculiarly providential circumstance that the ti- 
dings ever reached their ears. On Colonel Ew- 
ing's return to his own home, he related the ad- 
venture to his mother, wiio, with the just feelings 
of a woman, urged him to take some measure to 
make the discovery known, and at her solicitation 
he was induced to write the following narrative of 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 297 

the case, which he addressed to the deputy post- 
master at Lancaster, with a request that it might 
be published in some Pennsylvania newspaper : — 

" Logansport, Luliana, Jan. 20, 1835. 

" Dear Sir — In the hope that some good may 
result from it, I have taken this means of giving 
to your fellow-citizens, those who are descendants 
of the early settlers of the Susquehanna, the follow- 
ing information ; and if there be any now living, 
whose name is Slocu3i, to them, I hope the fol- 
lowing may be communicated, through the public 
prints of your place. 

" There is now living near this place, among 
the Miami tribe of Indians, an aged white wo- 
man, who a few days ago told me, whilst I lodged 
in the camp with her one night, that she was taken 
away from her father's house, on or near the Sus- 
quehanna river, when she was very young — say 
from five to eight years old, as she thinks, by the 
Delaware Indians, who were then hostile toward 
the whites. She says her father's name was Slo- 
cuM, that he was a Quaker, rather small in stature, 
and wore a large brimmed hat — was of sandy hair 
and light complexion, and much freckled — that he 
lived about half a mile from a town where there 
was a fort — that they lived in a wooden house of 
two stories high, and had a spring near the house. 
She says three Delawares came to the house in, 



29S HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the day time, when all were absent but herself, 
and perhaps two smaller children ; her father and 
brothers were absent making hay. The Indians 
carried her off, and she was adopted into a fami- 
ly of Dclawares, who raised her and treated her 
as their own child. They died about forty years 
ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then married 
to a Miami, by whom she had four children ; two 
of tlicm are now living — they are both daughters 
and she lives w4th them. Her husband is dead — 
she is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live 
long. 

"■ These considerations induced her to give the 
present history of herself, which she never would 
do before — fearing that her kindred would come 
and force her away. She has lived long and hap- 
pily as an Indian — and but for her color, would 
not be suspected of being any thing else than 
such. She is very respectable and wealthy — sober 
and honest. Her name is without reproach. She 
says her father had a large family, say eight chil- 
dren in all — six older than herself ; one younger, 
as well as she can recollect ; and she doubts not, 
there are yet living many of their descendants, 
but seems to think that all of her brothers and sis- 
ters must be dead, as she is very old herself — not 
far from the age of eighty. She thinks she was 
taken prisoner before the two last wars, which 
must mean the Revolutionary war, as Wayne's 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. i^99 

war and the late war have been since that one. 
She has entirely lost her mother tongue, and speaks 
only in Indian, which I also understand, and she 
gave me a full history of herself. 

" Her own christian name she has forgotten, 
but says her father's name was Slocum, and he 
was a Quaker. She also recollects that it was 
upon the Susquehanna river that they lived — but 
don't recollect the name of the town near which 
they lived. I have thought that from this letter 
you might cause something to be inserted in the 
newspapers of your county, tliat might possibly 
catch the eye of some of the descendants of the 
Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl 
having been carried off' by the Indians some sev- 
enty years ago. This they might know from fami- 
ly tradition. If so, and they will come here, I 
will carry them where they may see the object of 
my letter, alive and happy, though old and far ad- 
vanced in life. 

*' I can form no idea whereabout upon the Sus- 
quehanna river this family could have lived at 
that early period, namely about the time of the 
Revolutionary war — but perhaps you can ascer- 
tain more about it. If so, I hope you will inter- 
est yourself, and if possible, let her brothers and 
sisters, if any be alive, if not, their children, know 
where they may once more see a relative, whose 
fate has been wrapped in mystery for seventy 



300 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted 
parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They 
have long since found their graves, though their 
lost child they never found. I have been much 
affected with the disclosure, and hope the survi- 
ving friends may obtain, through your goodness, the 
information I desire for them. If I can be of any 
service to them, they may command me. In the 
mean time, I hope you will excuse me for the free- 
dom I have taken with you — a total stranger, and 
believe me to be, Sir, with much respect, 
" Your obedient servant, 

" Geo. W. Ewing." 

The functionary to whom the narrative was ad- 
dressed, however, having no knowledge of the 
writer, and supposing that it might be a hoax, 
paid no attention to it, and the letter was suffered 
to remain among the worthless accumulations of 
the office for the space of two years. It chanced 
then, that the post-master's wife, in rummaging 
over the old papers while putting the office in 
order one day, glanced her eyes upon this commu- 
nication. The story excited her interest, as well 
it might, and with true maternal feeling, and the 
active spirit of woman, she resolved to give the 
document publicity, and sent it to a neighboring 
journalist for that purpose. And here, again, ano- 
ther providential circumstance intervened. It 
happened that a Temperance Committee had en- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 301 

gaged a portion of the columns of the paper to 
which the letter of Colonel Ewing was sent, for the 
publication of an important document connected 
with that cause, and a large extra number of pa- 
pers had been ordered for general distribution. 
The letter was sent forth with the temperance doc- 
ument, and it yet again happened that a copy of 
this paper w^as addressed to a clergyman who had 
a brother residing in Wyoming. Having, from that 
brother, heard the story of the captivity of Frances 
Siocum, he had no sooner read the letter of Colo- 
nel Ewing, than he enclosed it to him, and by 
him it was placed in the hands of Joseph Siocum, 
Esq., the surviving brother. 

Any attempt to describe the sensations produc- 
ed by this most w^elcome, most strange, and most 
unexpected intelligence, would necessarily be a 
failure. This Mr. Joseph Siocum was the child, 
two years and a half old, that had been rescued 
by his intrepid sister, nine years old. That sister 
also survived, as did the younger brother, living 
in Ohio. Arrangements were immediately made 
by the former two, to meet the latter in Ohio, and 
proceed thence to the Miami country, and reclaim 
the long lost and now found sister. '^ I shall know 
her if she be my sister," said the elder sister nov/ 
going in pursuit, '' although she may be painted 
and jewelled off, and dressed in her Indian blank- 
et, for you, brother, hammered off her finger nail 
28 



302 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

one day in the blacksmith's shop, when she was 
four years old." While these arrangements were 
afoot, however, it was judged wise to open a di- 
rect correspondence with Colonel Ewing, in order 
to a more intelligent undertaking of the journey. 
To this end the following letter was addressed to 
that gentleman, by Jonathan J. Slocum, Esq., of 
the Wilkesbarre bar, a son of Joseph, and neph- 
ew of " the lost sister." 

'' Wilkes Barre, Fenn., Aug, 8, 1837. 

" George W. Ewing, Esq. 

" Dear Sir, — At the suggestion of my father 
and other relations I have taken the liberty to 
write to you, although an entire stranger. 

*' We have received but a few days since, a let- 
ter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster 
of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense 
interest to our family. How the matter should 
have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot 
conceive. An aunt of mine — sister of my father 
— ^was taken away when five years old by the In- 
dians, and since then we have only had vague and 
indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter 
we deem to have entirely revealed the whole mat- 
ter, and set every thing at rest. The description 
is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception 
of her age,) so correct that we feel confident. 

<* Steps will be taken immediately to investigate 



HISTORY OF WYOxMING 303 

the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our 
power to restore a lost relative, who has been 
sixty years in Indian bondage. 

'' Your friend and obedient servant, 

" JoN. J. Slocum." 

As the reply of Colonel Ewing forms a part of 
this remarkable history, it is here subjoined : — 

" Logaiisport, Indiana, Avg. 26, 1837. 
Jon. J. Slocum, Esq. Wilkes Barre. 

'' Dear Sir — I have the pleasure of acknow^ledg- 
ing the receipt of your letter of the 8th inst, , and 
in answer, can add, that the female I spoke of in 
Jan. 1835, is still alive ; nor can I for a moment 
doubt but that she is the identical relative that has 
been so long lost to your family. 

" I feel much gratified to think, that I have 
been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself 
and friends, such facts in relation to her as will 
enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more 
fully. She recovered from the temporary illness 
by which she was afflicted about the time I spent 
the night with her in Jan. 1835, and which was, 
no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so 
freely of her early captivity. 

" Although she is now, by long habit, an Indi- 
an, and her manners and customs precisely like 
theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any 



304 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

of you ; and I myself will take great pleasure in 
accompanying you to the house. Should you 
come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair 
directly to this place ; and should it so happen that 
I should be absent, at the time, you will find oth- 
ers who can take you to her. Bring with you this 
letter, — show it to James T. Miller, of Peru, (Ind.) 
a small town not far fiom this place. He knows 
her w^ell. He is a young man whom we have 
raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will ac- 
company you, if I should not be at home. In- 
quire for the old white woman, raother-in-Iaw to 
Brouriette, living on the Missisinewaw River, 
about ten miles above its mouth. There you will 
find the long lost sister of your Father, and as I 
before stated you will not have to blush on her 
account. She is highly respectable, and her iiame, 
as an Indian, is without reproach. Her daughter, 
too, and her son-in-law, Brouriette, who is also a 
half-blood, being part French, are both very re- 
spectable and interesting people — none in the na- 
tion are more so. As Indians, they live well, and 
will be pleased to see you. Should you visit here 
this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for 
New York in a few days, and shall not be baok 
till some time in October. But this need not stop 
you ; for although I should be gratified to see you, 
yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have further- 
ed your wishes in this truly interesting matter. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



305 



''The very kind manner in which you have 
been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appre- 
ciated. 

" There perhaps are men who could have heard 
her story unmoved, but for me, I could not ; and 
when I reflected that there was perhaps still lin- 
gering on this side of the grave some brother or 
sister of that ill-fated woman, to whom such in- 
formation would be deeply interesting, I resolved 
on the course which I adopted, and entertained 
the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go 
before the public, would attract the attention of 
some one interested. In this it seems at last, I 
have not been disappointed, although I had long 
since supposed it had failed to effect the object for 
which I wrote it. Like you I regret that it should 
have been delayed so long, — nor can I conceive 
how any one should neglect to pubhsh such a letter. 

"As to the age of this female, I think she her- 
self is mistaken and that she is not so old as she 
imagines herself to be. Indeed I entertain no 
doubt but that she is the same person that your 
family have mourned after for more than half a 
century past. 

" Your obedient, humble servant, 

'' George W. Ewing,'* 

All necessary arrangements for the journey hav- 
ing been completed, it was undertaken by the two 



306 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

surviving brothers and their sister ; who, accom- 
panied by an interpreter engaged in the Indian 
country, reached the designated place, and found 
the lost one. But, alas ! how changed ! Instead 
of the fair-haired and laughing girl, the picture 
yet living in their imaginations, they found her an 
aged and thorough-bred squaw in every thing but 
complexion. She was sitting, when they entered 
her lodge, composed of two large log-houses con- 
nected by a shed, with her two daughters, the one 
about twenty-three years old, and the other about 
thirty-three, and three or four pretty grand-chil- 
dren. The closing hours of the journey had been 
made in pensive silence- — deep thoughts strug- 
gling in the bosoms of all. On entering the lodge, 
the first exclamation of one of the brothers was — 
" Oh God ! is that my sister !" A moment after- 
ward, and the sight of the disfigured thumb left 
no doubt as to her identity. The following collo- 
quy, conducted through the interpreter, ensued:, 

*' What was your name when a child ?" 

^* I do not recollect." 

" What do you remember ?" 

** My father, my mother, the long river, the 
stair-case under which I hid when they came." 

" How came you to lose your thumb-nail ?" 

*' My brother hammered it off, a long, long time 
ago, when I was a very little girl at my father's 
house." 



HISTORY OF WrOMING. 307 

'' Do you know how many brothers and sisters 
you had r" 

She then mentioned them, and in tlie order of 
their ages. 

" Would you know your name, if you should 
hear it repeated ?" 

'' It is a long time since, and perhaps I should 
not." 

''Was it Frances?" 

At once a smile played upon her features, and 
for a moment there seemed to pass over the face 
what might be called the shadow of an emotion, 
and she answered, " Yes !"*= 

Other reminiscences were awakened, and the 
recognition was complete. But how different 
were the emotions of the parties ! The brothers 
paced the lodge in agitation. The civilized sis- 
ter was in tears. The other, obedient to the af- 
fected stoicism of her adopted race, was as cold, 
unmoved, and passionless as marble. Her two 
daughters had both been married, but the youngest 
was a widow. The husband of the other was a 
half-breed Frenchman, named Brouriette, bearing 
the rank of "Captain" among his people — a 
man of cultivated manners and elegant appear- 
ance. It required considerable time to overcome 
the suspicions of the long lost and now found sis- 
ter, and her family, that the strangers were their 

* The Lost Sister. 



308 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

relatives. They were however at length persua- 
ded to accompany the strangers back to the quar- 
ters they had secured, nine miles distant, and pass 
the night. Yet '' before they fully yielded their 
confidence, it was necessary, in compliance with 
Indian usage, to give and receive a formal pledge 
of friendship. To this end, the parties being all 
assembled, the eldest daughter brought in a clean 
white cloth, carefully rolled up, and laid it on the 
stand, and then, through the Interpreter, arose 
and solemnly presented it as a pledge of their con- 
fidence. It contained the h.ind quarter of a deer, 
which they had probably just hunted and killed 
for this very purpose. The brothers and sisters 
then arose and as solemnly received it as a to- 
ken of friendship and kindness. But still, they 
were not satisfied, till the civilized sister had gone 
and formerly taken possession of the cloth and its 
contents. They then seemed at ease, and from 
that moment, gave their new friends their entire 
confidence.'^* The ceremony over, the party 
moved off to the point designated, — the daughters 
of Frances mounting their spirited Indian horses, 
which they soon gave evidence that they could 
manage as well as in the days of chivalry did the 
rather masculine spouse of Count Robert of Paris, 
her steed, in the wars of the Holy Land, as de- 

* The Lost Sister. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 309 

scribed in the brilliant romance of the Crusaders, 
by Sir Walter Scott. 

Neither the acquired stoicism of her adopted 
race, nor her incommunicative disposition, was 
entirely overcome by the strangers. Still their 
persuasions were listened to by degrees, until the 
old lady was at length induced to relate so much 
of her history as she could remember, — manifest- 
ing no small degree of suspicion, however, on the 
production of the necessary utensils for reducing 
the narrative to writing. This narrative was in 
substance as follows : — 

" I can well remember the day when the Dela- 
ware Indians came suddenly to our house. I re- 
member that they killed and scalped a man near 
the door, taking the scalp with them. They then 
pushed the boy through the door ; he came to me 
and we both went and stood under the stair-case. 
They went up stairs and rifled the house, though I 
cannot remember what they took except some loaf 
sugar and some bundles. I remember that they 
took me and the boy on dieir backs through the 
bushes. I believe the rest of the family had fled,, 
except my mother. 

" They carried us a long way as it seemed to 
me, to a cave, where they had left their blankets 
and travelling things. It was over the mountain 
and a long way down on the other side. Heie 
they stopped while it was yet light, and there we 



310 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

staid all night. I can remember nothing about 
that night, except that I was very tired, and lay 
down on the ground and cried till I was asleep. 
The next morning we set out, and travelled many 
days in the woods before we came to a village of 
Indians. When we stopped at night, the Indians 
would cut down a few boughs of hemlock on 
which to sleep, and then make up a great fire of 
logs at their feet, which lasted all night. When 
they cooked any thing, they stuck a stick in it, 
and held it to the fire as long as they chose. 
They drank at the brooks and springs, and for me 
they made a little cup of white-birch bark, out of 
which I drank. I can only remember that they 
staid several days at this first village, but where it 
w^is, I have no recollection. 

^' After they had been here some days, very ear- 
ly one morning, two of the same Indians took a 
horse, and placed the boy and me upon it, and 
again set out on their journey. One went before 
on foot, and the other behind, driving the horse. 
In this way we travelled a long way till we came to 
a village vv^here these Indians belonged. I now 
found that one of them was a Delaware Chief by 
the name of Tuck-Horse. This is a great Dela- 
ware name, but I do not know its meaning. We 
were kept here some days, when they came and 
took away the boy and I never saw him again, and 
do not know what became of him. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 311 

" Early one morning this Tuck-Horse came and 
took me, and dressed my hair in the Indian way, 
and then painted my face and skin. He then 
dressed me in beautiful wampum-beads and made 
me look, as I thought, very fine. I was much 
pleased with the beautiful wampum. We then 
lived on a hill, and I remember he took me by the 
hand and led me down to the river-side, to a house 
where lived an old man and woman. They had 
once had several children, but now they were all 
gone — either killed in battle, or having died when 
very young. When the Indians thus lose all their 
children, they often adopt some new child as their 
own, and treat it in all respects like their own. 
This is the reason why they so often carry away 
the children of white people. I was brought to 
these old people to have them adopt me, if they 
would. They seemed unwilling at first, but after 
Tuck-Horse had talked with them a while, they 
agreed to it, and this was my home. They gave 
me the name of We-ht-a-wash, which was the 
name of their youngest child whom they had late- 
ly buried. It had now got to be the fall of the 
year, for chestnuts had come. The Indians were 
very numerous here, and here we remained all the 
following winter. The Indians were in the service 
of the British, and were furnished by them with 
provisions. They seemed to be the gathered rem- 
nants of several nations of Indians. I remember 



312 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

that there was a fort here. In the spring I went 
with the parents who had adopted me, to Sandus- 
ky, where we spent the next summer ; but in the 
fall, we returned again to tlie fort, — the place 
where I was made an Indian child, and here we 
spent the second winter. In the next spring we 
went dow^n to a large river, which is Detroit River, 
where we stopped and built a great number of 
bark canoes. I might have said before, that there 
was war between the British and the Americans, 
and that the American Army had driven the In- 
dians around the fort where I was adopted. In 
their fights, I remember the Indians used to take 
and bring home scalps, but I do not know how 
many. When our canoes were all done, we went 
up Detroit River, where we remained about three 
years. I think peace had now been made between 
the British and the Americans, and so we lived by 
hunting, fishing, and raising corn. The reason 
why we staid here so long, Avas, that we heard 
that the Americans had destroved all our villages 
and corn-fields. After these years, my family and 
another Delaware family removed to Fort Wayne. 
I don't know where the other Indians went. This 
was now our home, and I suppose we lived here 
as many as twenty-six or thirty years. I was 
there long after I was full grown, and I was there 
at the time of Harmar's defeat. At the time 
when this battle with Harinar was fought, the wo- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 313 

men and children were all made to run north. I 
cannot remember whether the Indians took any 
prisoners, or brought home any scalps at this time. 
After the battle, they all scattered to their various 
homes, as was their custom, till gathered again for 
some particular object. I then returned to Fort 
Wayne again. The Indians who returned from 
this battle w^ere Delavvares, Pottawatamies, Shawa- 
nese, and Miamis. I was always treated well and 
kindly ; and while I lived with them, I was mar- 
ried to a Delaware. He afterwards left me and 
the country and went west of the ISIississippi. 
The Delawares and the Miamis were then all liv- 
ing together. I was afterwards married to a Mia- 
mi, a chief, and a deaf man. His name was Che- 
por-on-wah. After being married to him, I had 
four children — two boys and two girls. My boys 
both died while young. The girls are living and 
are here in this room at the present time. I can- 
not recollect much about the Indian wars with the 
whites, which were so common and so bloody. I 
well remember a battle and a defeat of the Ameri- 
cans at Fort Washington, which is now Cincin- 
nati. I remember how Wayne, or " Mad Antho- 
ny," drove the Indians away and built the Fort. 
The Indians then scattered all over the country, 
and lived upon game which was very abundant. 
After this they encamped all along on Eel River. 

After peace was made, we all returned to Fort 

2S 



314 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Wayne, and received provisions from the Ameri- 
cans, and there I hved a long time. I had remo- 
ved, with my family, to the Missisineway river 
sometime before the battle of Tippecanoe. The 
Indians who fought in that battle were Kicka- 
poos, Pottawatamies and Shawanese. The Mia- 
mis were not there. I heard of the battle on the 
Missisineway, but my husband was a deaf man and 
never went to the wars, and I did not know much 
about it." 

" Was you ever tired of living with the Indi- 
ans ?" 

" No. I had always enough to live on, and to 
live well. They always used me very kindly." 

*' Did you ever know that you had white rela- 
tions who were seeking you for so many years ?" 

^' No. No one told me, and I never heard of 
it. I never thought any thing about my white rel- 
atives, unless it was a little while after I was taken." 

" But we live where our father and mother used 
to live on the banks of the beautiful Susquehanna, 
and we want you should return with us. We will 
give you of our property, and you shall be one of 
us, and share all that we have. You shall have a 
good house, and every thing you desire. O do 
go back with us." 

" No I cannot. I have always lived with the 
Indians. They have always used me Very kindly. 
I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 315 

allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live 
and die with them. Your Wah-puh-mone, (look- 
ing-glass,) may be larger than mine, but this is my 
home. I do not wish to live any better, or any 
where else, and I think the Great Spirit has per- 
mitted me to live so long, because I have always 
lived with the Indians, I should have died sooner 
if I had left them. My husband and my boys are 
buried here, and I cannot leave them. On his 
dying day my husband charged me not to leave 
the Indians. I have a house, and large lands, two 
daughters, a son-in-law, three grand-children, and 
every thing to make me comfortable. Why should 
I go, and be like a fish out of the water?" 

"And I," said Brouriette, her son-in-law, " know 
all about it. I was born at Fort Harrison, about 
two miles from Terre Haute. When I was ten 
years old, I went to Detroit. I was married to 
this woman about thirteen years ago. Tho people 
about here, and at Logansport, and at Miamisport, 
have known me ever since the country has been 
settled by the whites. They know me to be in- 
dustrious, to manage well, and to maintain my 
family respectably. My mother-in-law's sons are 
dead, and I stand in their place to her. I mean 
to maintain her well as long as she lives, for the 
truth of which you may depend on the word of 
Capt. Brouriette." 

" What Capt. Brouriette says," added the old 



316 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

lady, '' is true. He has always treated me kindly, 
and I am satisfied with him — perfectly satisfied, — 
and I hope my connexions will not feel any unea- 
siness about me. The Indians are my people. I 
do no work. I sit in the house with these my two 
daughters, who do the work, and I sit with them." 

'' But will you at least, go and make a visit to 
your early heme, and when you have seen us, re- 
turn again to your children ?" 

'' I cannot. I cannot. I am an old tree. It 
cannot move about. I was a sapling when they 
took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid 
I should die and never come back. I am happy 
here, I shall die here and lie in that grave-yard, 
and they will raise the pole at my grave with the 
white flag on it, and the Great Spirit will know 
where to find me. I should not be happy with 
my white relatives, I am glad enough to see them, 
but I cannot go. I cannot go. I have done." 

" When the whites take a squaw," said Brouri- 
ette, with much animation, as if delighted with the 
decision of the old lady, '' they make her work like 
a slave. It was never so with this woman. If I 
had been a drunken, worthless fellow, this woman 
could not have lived to this age. But I have al- 
ways treated her well. The village is called Deaf 
Man's Villa2:e after her husband. I have done." 

The eldest daughter, whose name is Kick-ke- 
sc-qua, or " cut-Jinger,^^ assented to all that had 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 317 

been said, and added that '' the deer cannot hve 
out of the forest." 

The youngest daughter, O-shoiv-se-quah, or 
" yellow leaves,^' confirmed all, and thought that 
her mother could not go even on a visit, '' because," 
said she, '' the fish dies quickly out of the water." 

The brothers and sister returned, unable to 
win back their tawny sister from her wilds even 
long enough to make them a visit. She was not 
just what their hopes had painted ; but she was 
all that an Indian could be in her circumstances. 
Yet their love for her was not quenched.* 

* The whole of this simple narrative, is taken verbatim, from Mr. Todd's 
little 6ook — he, of course drawing the statement from the memoranda 
written at the time of the interview, by the Messrs. Slocums. 



23* 



CHAPTER IX. 

Continuation of the History,— The State Government succeeds that of the 
Proprietaries,— Conduct of the State to the lioirs of Pt>nn,— The State 
claims the title to the Wyoming lands,— Appeals to Conjiross,— A Com- 
mission appointed, —Decision in favor of rennsylvania,—liissatisfaition 
of the people,— Slate troops sent to Wyoming, — Arrogant anil disgraceful 
conduct o{ magistrates and soldiers, — Appeal of the people to Congress, 
— Terrible Inundation, — SulVerings of the people, — Rapacity of the sol- 
diers,— Sympathy of the public excited in their nehalf,— Banditti,— Re- 
newal of the Civil Wiu-,- The State troops besieged,— Siege raised,— 
Commissioners again sent to Wyoming,— Inefiectual negotiations, — 
Movement of troops against the valley, — Colonel Armstrong appointed 
to the command, — Repulse of Major Moore, — The people siezed, disarm- 
ed, and imprisoned by treachery, — Armstrong plunders the fields, — Re- 
sistance of the people, — His troops deteated,— The people re-take their 
arms, — Armstrong returns to riiiladelphia, — Another expedition, — Sym- 
pathy for the people, — Interposition of the Council of Censors, — Gloomy 
situation of allairs in the valley, — Armstrong makes a linal retreat, — 
Better state of feeling, — Mediation of Colonel Pickering,— Compromise 
Law, — Opposed by John Franklin and some of the people, — Affray, — 
Franklin's arrest and imprisonment for treason, — Insurrection, — Flight 
of Colonel Pickering, — His return and extraordinary captivity, — Release, 
— Final adjustment of the controversy,— Conclusion. 

Unfortunately for Wyoming, its troubles ceas- 
ed not with the war of the Revokition. That 
contest was in fact ended by the fall of Yorktown, 
and the surrender of Cornwallis, in October, 17S1, 
though not by official acknowledgment until the 
treaty of 17S3. There was, however, a conven- 
tional cessation of active liostilities ; and with the 
disappearance of danger from the Indians on the 
frontier, Connecticut again poured her hundreds 
of emigrants into the beautiful vale which nature 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 319 

Jiad destined as the paradise of the Susquehanna. 
But in ref^ard to tlie proprietorship of the lands, 
altliouf^h the government of Pennsylvania had 
changed hands, no change had been wrought in 
favor of the Connecticut claimants ; and the 
swarms of Yankees now alighting in the valley 
were looked upon with an evil eye. The govern- 
ment of the Proprietaries had been abolished at 
the commencement of the revolution. The prin- 
cipal heirs to the grant of William Penn already 
resided in England, and the others, John and 
Richard Penn, had also retired thither. Both 
Richard and John had administered the colonial 
government. The administration of Pvichard, who 
was superseded by John in 1763, had been very 
popular, especially with the merchants. John 
Penn was at the head of the Proprietaries' gov- 
ernment at the breaking out of the rebellion, and 
his feelings and sympathies were for a season sup- 
posed to be in unison with those of the colonists, 
until after the adoption of the address to the 
crown, by the Congress of 1775, when Governor 
Penn attempted to persuade the colonial legislature 
to adopt a separate address, of a more concihatory 
character. But the Assembly was not disposed 
to separate Pennsylvania from the united action of 
the colonies. The differences between the Gov- 
ernor and his refractory legislature increased, until 
the latter, with the people of Pennsylvania, thor- 



320 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

oughly espoused the cause of the revolution, and 
the government of the Proprietaries expired on the 
26th of September, 1776. About the year 1778, 
the legislature of the State enacted a law stripping 
the heirs of William Penn of all the vacant lands 
wdthin its territory, leaving them only a few tracts 
of unsettled lands, called Manors, which had been 
actually located and surveyed. As an acknowl- 
edgement of the merits and claims of the fomily of 
Penn, however, the sum of one hundred and thirty 
thousand pounds sterling was voted them as an 
indemnification, in addition to the Manors. But 
there was at the same time due those heirs about 
five hundred thousand pounds, for lands they had 
sold the inhabitants, and for quit-rents.* It has 
been held that the State might have considered 
the proprietary claims as a royalty, to which an 
independent government might lawfully succeed.f 
Still no such claim was preferred ; and the pretext 
for what has been considered by some an act of 
violence against the just rights of those heirs, was, 
that so large a property in the hands of a few in- 
dividuals endangered the liberties of the people.J 
Having thus made itself the successor to the 
Proprietaries, the State of Pennsylvania was not 
slow in the interposition of its claim to the terri- 

* Pickering's Letter to his son. The amount of Land thus seized waa 
about six millions of acres, according to Mr. Pickering. 
I Encyclopaedia Americana. Art. Pennsylvania. 
X Pickering's Letter. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 321 

tory of Wyoming, and the entire domain of the 
Susquehanna, and Delaware companies. The ar- 
ticles of confederation having made provision for 
the adjustment of difficulties arising between states, 
and Connecticut insisting upon the jurisdiction it 
had so long exercised over the Wyoming settle- 
ments, Pennsylvania now applied to Congress for 
the appointment of a commission to hear the par- 
ties, and determine the question. Commissioners 
were accordingly appointed, who met at Trenton, 
in the State of New-Jersey, late in the Autumn of 
17S2.* After a session of five weeks, the com- 
missioners, on the 30th of December, came to the 
unanimous decision that Connecticut had no right 
to the land in controversy, and that the jurisdiction 
and preemption of all the lands within her char- 
tered limits belonged to Pennsylvania. 

The people of Wyoming viewed the proceed- 
ings of the commission of Congress with compar- 
ative indifference — considering, or affecting to 
consider, that the question at issue before it was one 
o^ jurisdiction only. Their allegiance might as 

* The State of Connecticut appointed Colonel Dyer, Doctor Johnson, and 
Jesse Root, as agents to attend the Board of Commissioners on her behalf; 
and Messrs, Bradford, Reed, Wilson, and Sergeant, were appointed on the 
part of Pennsylvania. The Colonel Dyer here named, had been concerned 
in the Susquehanna Company from the first, and had been its agent in 
London. He was a lawyer in Windham, and was the same gentleman 
who has been immortalized in the celebrated tradition of the invasion of 
Windham by the frogs. One of the Elderkins, also named in the same 
tradition, was for a time an early resident of Wyoming. 



322 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

well be rendered to Pennnsylvania as to Connec- 
ticut, so that they were left in the undisturbed 
enjoyment of tlieir farms ; and even the explicit 
phraseology of the decree of the commission, de- 
claring that Connecticut had " no right to the land 
in controversy," gave them little concern, suppo- 
sing, as they subsequently contended, that it meant 
no more than tlie fact that the State of Connecti- 
cut had conveyed all her right to the soil, to the 
Susquehanna Company, from which latter their 
title was derived. They therefore, under this 
mental construction, acquiesced at once in the de- 
cision, and by a formal memorial to the General 
Assembly, signified their willingness to conform to 
the laws and obey the constituted authorities of 
Pennsylvania.* 

Far different, however, was the construction of 
that decree by the Pennsylvanians. They contend- 
ed not only for the jurisdiction, but for the soil, 
and the General Assembly took immediate meas- 
ures preparatory to a sweeping ejectment of the 
settlers. The decree from Trenton having been 
received, the General Assembly passed a resolu- 
tion, on the 20th of February, declaring the peo- 
ple then settled in Wyoming, on yielding obedi- 
ence to the laws, to be entitled to protection, and 
the benefits of civil government, in common with 

* Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOxMING. 323 

other citizens of the State. On the 25th of the 
same month, three Commissioners were appointed, 
who were to act as magistrates, in Wyoming, in- 
quire into the state of the country, and recommend 
proper measures for adoption toward the settlers.* 
These Commissioners were directed to repair to 
Wyoming in April ; meantime, in the month of 
March, under the transparent pretext of affording 
protection to the settlement, the Council ordered 
two companies of rangers to be raised and sta- 
tioned there, under the command of Captains 
Thomas Robinson and Philip Shrawder. These 
companies arrived on the 21st and 24th of March, 
and taking possession of Fort Wyoming, changed 
its name to Fort Dickinson, in honor of the Pres- 
ident of the Council of State.f 

It was very natural that this military demon- 
stration, the object of which, the war being over, 
could not be misconceived, would create great 
uneasiness ; which feeling, when the Commission- 
ers came to report, was at once aroused to the 
verge of insurrection. They reported that a rea- 
sonable compensation in land should be made to 
the families of those who had fallen in arms 
against the common enemy, and to such other set- 

* These Commissioners were William Montgomery, Moses M'Lcan, and 
John Montgomery. 

t Under the first State Constitution of Penneylvania, there was no Gov- 
ernor or Senate. 



324 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

tiers holding under proper Connecticut titles, as 
were actual residents of Wyoming at the date of 
the Trenton decree ; conditioned that they should 
relinquish all claim to the soil then in their posses- 
sion, and make a full and entire surrender of their 
tenures. In other words, they were to relinquish 
all their present lands and improvements, purchas- 
ed by unheard-of sufferings, and consecrated by 
the blood of their kindred ; in lieu of which they 
were to receive an indefinite compensation, at the 
option of their enemies, in the wild lands of some 
region unknown. Conditions like these they were 
in no temper to brook, more especially as the ar- 
rogant conduct of the troops stationed there had 
already exasperated them almost to a point beyond 
which endurance ceases to be a virtue. The sum- 
mer of that year, (1782,) was therefore passed in 
a state of high excitement, — the troops deporting 
themselves in a spirit of tyrannical domination, 
and committing many outrages, disgraceful to the 
character of civilized men. 

In the month of September, Captain Robinson's 
company was relieved by another detachment of 
State troops, under Captain Christie, the command 
of the station at the same time being conferred 
upon a militia Major named James Moore. Two 
special Justices of the Peace were likewise ap- 
pointed for the district, the names of whom were 
Patterson and West, with directions to repair to 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 325 

the disputed territory, with Major Moore, and by 
the aid and protection of the mihtary, form a tri- 
bunal for the adjudication of all questions arising 
under the civil law. The immediate object of 
constituting this tribunal, the authority of which 
was to be sustained by the bayonet, very soon be- 
come apparent. It was none other than to dispos- 
sess the Connecticut settlers of their plantations : 
per fas aiit nefas, and award them to such claim- 
ants as might present themselves under the Penn- 
sylvania title. They began their judicial labors 
in the most arbitrary and oppressive manner, and 
the military executed their decrees in a spirit of 
cruelty and vindictiveness, which would have re- 
flected discredit upon the hordes led into that af- 
flicted region four years before by Gi-en-gwah-toh 
himself. The people were not only subjected to 
insult, but their crops were destroyed in the fields, 
their cattle w^ere seized and driven away, and in 
some instances their houses were destroyed by fire, 
and the females rendered the victims of armed li- 
centiousness.* The real object of this rigorous 
treatment was not only to strip the people of their 
possessions, but by wearying them of their " prom- 
ised land," drive them from the valley.f 

Considering the indomitable and fiery spirit 
characterizing the Connecticut emigrants during 

♦ Chapman. t Pickering's Letter. 

29 



326 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the severe trials they had encountered in preceding 
years, it is a subject of surprise that these oppres- 
sive acts were submitted to, even for a single week ; 
and it can only be accounted for upon the suppo- 
sition, that, wearied by the harrassing contentions 
of years, they were now earnestly seeking repose. 
Instead, therefore, of an immediate appeal to arms, 
they now sought redress by an appeal to the Legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania for protection. Their first 
memorial, which ought to have been acted upon 
in December, seeming to be unheeded, the people 
next spread their case before Congress, and pray- 
ed for the intervention of that body, by the ap- 
pointment of a commission, under the ninth Arti- 
cle of the Confederation, to hear and determine 
the question as to the right of soil. The memo- 
rial was favorably received, and it was ordered on 
the 23d of January, 17S4, that Congress, or a com- 
mittee of the States, should hear the parties on 
the fourth Monday of the then ensuing month of 
June. But greatly to the disappointment of the 
people, neither Congress nor a committee of the 
states was in session at the time designated, " and 
the controversy came to no determination." 

Meantime, however, the inhabitants had been 
doomed to suffer from a calamity of a different 
character, inflicted by an arm more powerful than 
that of man. The winter of 1783 — '84, was one 
of uncommon severity. The weather was so in- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 327 

tensely cold that the ice upon the surface of the 
river formed to an unusual thickness, and the 
snow fell to an extraordinary depth. Protected 
from the gradual action of the sun by the dense 
forests overspreading almost the entire country, 
the snow lay upon the mountains, and was piled 
up in the ravines, in immense masses, when sud- 
denly a warm rain set in on the 13th of March, 
which continued falhng until the 15th. A rapid 
dissolution of the snow caused a corresponding 
swelling of the streams tributary to the Susque- 
hanna, and a premature breaking up of the ice 
was the consequence. The first breaking was at 
the successive rapids, from each of which the ice 
\yas borne alonar in masses over the still sections 
of the river yet sleeping beneath its froz^h chalilS, 
until arrested by trees, or some other intervening 
obstacles, against which it lodged. By this pro- 
cess several dams were formed in the valley, espe- 
cially at the lower end, where it is almost cut off 
by the approximating points of the mountains 
upon either side. These dams caused the waters 
to flow back and accumulate, until the entire val- 
ley was overflowed, and the inhabitants compelled 
to flee to the little hills rising in the valley,* and 

* One of these elevations which impart an agreeable varietj^ to the aspect 
of the valley, juts out sharply almost into the river, not far above the inter- 
section of Mill Creek. It was the site of one of the Yankee defences 
against Ogden, heretofore mentioned. From its crest, the landscape is as 
beautiful as fancy can paint. Upon the summit of this hill sleep the re- 



3!28 HISTORY OF WrOMtNG. 

to the mountains, for their hves, leaving their cat- 
tle and flocks, their provisions, and the greater 
part of their household goods to the mercy of the 
flood. Some of them had more than once been 
compelled to look back upon the valley from the 
same mountains, when blazing like a sea of fire. 
Equally appalling, and if possible more dreary, was 
the spectacle, now that the valley resembled a hy- 
perborean lake, the ice of which had been broken 
into floating masses by a tempest. The waters 
continued to accumulate for many hours, up- 
raising houses, barns, and fences upon their bo- 
som, until at length a large dam in the mountain- 
gorge above the valley gave way, causing at once 
a mighty increase, and a tremendous ritsh of the 
flood, which, as it hurried impetuously down, 
swept every thing before it. The fetters of the 
more tranquil sections of the river gave way al 
the same time, the ice heaving up in ponderous 
masses, and making the valley to echo with their 
thunder as they broke. It was a scene of terrific 
grandeur, to behold the maddened floods rolling 
onward in their irresistible strength, and bearing 



mains of the Rev. Mr. Johnstone, llie first clergyman of Wyoming. Be 
was a good scholar and a man of talents — greatly beloved by the flock 
over which he watched for many years. He was, however, an eccentric 
man, entertaining some peculiar views in theology. He believed in the 
second coming and personal reign of Christ upon earth ; and insisted upon 
being buried here, facing the east, so that he could see the glorious pa- 
geant of the Messiah in liis second descent. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 329 

upon their bosom the wrecks of houses and barns, 
with stacks of hay, and huge trunks of trees, and 
broken fragments of timber, with piles of ice and 
drowned cattle, all mingled in destructive confu- 
sion together, and hurrying forward as though 
anxious to escape such a region of desolation for 
the more tranquil repose of the ocean. But it was 
a heart-rending spectacle to the poor settlers, thus 
again to look upon the entire destruction of their 
earthly goods, with the certainty that when the 
flood should abate, they could only return to wan- 
der in destitution amidst the '' wreck of matter," 
while even the sunny face of hope had become 
almost as dark as despair. As the waters subsided, 
huge piles of ice were deposited upon the plain of 
Wilkesbarre, so thick that the fervid heat of al- 
most the whole summer was required for its dis- 
solution.^ 

Disheartened, but not broken, the people re- 
turned as soon as the floods would permit, and 
with the opening spring commenced once more 
the labor of repairing their dilapidated fortunes, — 
with which the never-ending still-beginning la- 
bors of the fabled Sisyphus w^ere but as child's 
play in comparison, and, judging from the past, 
scarcely less promising for the future. The de- 
struction of their cattle and provisions had been 

* Chapman. 

29* 



330 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

SO general, that gloomy apprehensions of a famine 
pressed upon their minds, and there must have 
been great suffering but for the assistance re- 
ceived from abroad. And what little of food had 
been preserved, or was furnished to them, was 
snatched almost from their mouths by the sol- 
diers, sent thither to guard and torment them, 
and who now became more ungovernable and 
rapacious than before. Such an accumulation of 
calamities was well calculated to awaken the sym- 
pathies of the people wherever the story was re- 
hearsed, and those sympathies, generally, were 
not appealed to in vain. Mr. Dickinson, the Pre- 
sident of the Council of State, spontaneously in- 
vited the attention of that body to the subject, 
and recommended the adoption of measures for 
the immediate rehef of the sufferers ; but the Gen- 
eral Assembly looked coldly upon a people whose 
coming into the state had been without leave, and 
whose presence had caused them so much trouble. 
The efforts of the President were therefore not 
seconded by those holding the keys of the treas- 
ury. 

The sufferers, however, sustained by the all- 
conquering spirit of their race, recommenced their 
labors with their wonted energy ; and but for the 
conduct of he soldiery, the valley might again 
have become the home of peace, smiling once 
more in beauty. But the magistrates sent thither 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 331 

for that purpose revived their oppressive measures, 
and countenanced the outrages of the soldiers, un- 
til the people, chafed beyond longer endurance, 
determined upon forcible resistance to their man- 
dates. Enraged at this resolution, the magistrates 
proceeded against the settlers as though they were 
insurgents. On the 12th of May the soldiers 
of the garrison were sent to disarm the people, 
and in the progress of the work " one hundred and 
fifty families were turned out of their newly con- 
structed dwellings, many of which were burnt, 
and all ages and sexes reduced once more to a 
state of destitution. After being plundered of 
their Ittle remaining property, they were driven 
from the valley, and compelled to proceed on foot 
through the wilderness by the way of the Lacka- 
waxen river to the Delaware — a distance of eighty 
miles. During this journey the unhappy fugitives 
suffered all the miseries which human nature ap- 
pears capable of enduring. Old men, whose sons 
had been slain in battle, widows, with their infant 
children, and children without parents to protect 
them, were here companions in exile and sorrow, 
and wandering in a wilderness where famine and 
ravenous beasts daily reduced the number of the 
sufferers. One shocking instance of suffering is 
related by a survivor of this scene of death : it is 
the case of a mother, wjiose infant having died^ 
she was driven to the dreadful alternative of roast- 



332 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ing the body by piecemeal for the daily subsist- 
ence of her remaining children !"* 

It must not be supposed that atrocities like these 
would be sanctioned by the government of any 
civilized community. The General Assembly, in 
refusing a vote of supplies for the sufferers by the 
flood, were believed to have been acting under 
the influence of the Pennsylvania claimants to the 
lands of Wyoming ; and the instigations of these 
avaricious men, beyond doubt, had prompted Jus- 
tices Patterson and West, and the soldiers under 
them, to the course of wrong and outrage that had 
been pursued. W^hen, however, the naked facts 
came to be known to the government, great indig- 
nation was produced. A commission was des- 
patched to Wyoming, to inquire into the state of 
the settlement, and their report was such as to 
cause the discharge of the troops, with the excep- 
tion of a small guard left at Fort Dickinson. A 
proclamation was likewise issued, inviting the 
people who had been driven away, to return to 
their homes, with a promise of protection on a 
due submission to the laws. To a considerable ex- 
tent this proclamation produced the desired effect, 
and the people returned. 

But the valley was not yet destined to become 
a place of quiet. The discharged soldiers had be- 

* Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 333 

come partisans of the Pennsylvania land claim- 
ants. Many of them were, moreover, dissolute ; 
and after being disbanded, they hung around the 
settlements, living like banditti upon plunder. By 
the middle of July, so many of them had rejoined 
the guard in Fort Dickinson, that the garrison was 
becoming formidable, and the inhabitants, for self- 
protection, repaired and garrisoned Fort Forty. 
On the 20th of July, a party of the people in that 
fort, having occasion to visit their fields of grain 
five miles below, were fired upon by a detachment 
of thirty of Justice Patterson's men, from Fort 
Dickinson, commanded by a man named William 
Brink, and two of the people, Chester Pierce and 
Elisha Garret, young men of promise, were killed. 
The loss of these distinguished young men was 
deeply lamented, and the inhabitants determined 
that their death should be avenged. Three days 
afterward, the garrison of Fort Forty marched up- 
on Wilkesbarre in the night, for the purpose of 
making prisoners of Patterson and his men, who 
were in the habit of lodging without the fort, 
when not apprehensive of danger ; but having 
been apprized of the intention of the people, they 
had disposed themselves again for the night within 
the fort, and made preparations for defence. Not 
being prepared to invest the fortress immediate- 
ly, the people took possession of the flouring mill, 
which had been occupied by Patterson and his re- 



334 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

tainers, and having laid in a store of provisions for 
themselves at Fort Forty, they retired thither for 
the purpose of counsel and preparation for ulteri- 
or measures. 

Three days afterward the fort was invested by 
the people. The garrison consisted of about sixty 
men, provided with four pieces of ordnance, and 
one hundred and sixty muskets. For the cannon 
there was no ammunition ; but having a good sup- 
ply for their small arms, and having despatched 
an express to Philadelphia for assistance, they de- 
termined to hold out until the arrival of reinforce- 
ments. The leader of the besiegers in this insur- 
rection — if such it might be properly called — was 
John Franklin, a native of Connecticut — an in- 
fluential and resolute man — prime agent of the 
Susquehanna Company, and a colonel by popular 
election.* On the 27th of July, it having been 
determined to attempt carrying the fort by storm 
Franklin, ''in the name and on the behalf of the 
injured and incensed inhabitants holding their lands 
under the Connecticut claim," sent a formal sum- 
mons to the garrison to surrender, not the fortress 
only, but likewise the possessions and other prop- 
erty of the besiegers, which had been taken from 
them " in a hostile and unconstitutional manner." 
it was added that if the summons should be com- 

* Letter of Colonel Pickering. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 533 

plied with, they " should be treated with humanity 
and commiseration — otherwise, the consequences 
would prove fatal and bloody to every person 
found in the garrison." Two hours were allowed 
them for an answer. But before these two hours' 
had elapsed, information was received from below, 
that the magistrates of the county of Northumber- 
land, (to which Wyoming had been attached,) at 
the head of a body of troops, were marching to the 
succor of the garrison ; whereupon the siege was 
immediately raised, and the assailants returned to 
Fort Forty, resolving to remain there until the 
magistrates should arrive. 

The belligerent proceedings of the inhabitants 
in this emergency can the more readily be justi- 
fied, when it is considered that the party in the 
fort, at the head of which was Justice Patterson, 
was now making war upon them in behalf of the 
Pennsylvania claimants, on their own account. 
Under these circumstances, the people had a right, 
not only to protect themselves, but to repel force by 
force. That such was the fact appears from the 
official proceedings of the Council of the State. 
On hearing of the affair of the 20th, in which 
tw^o of the inhabitants had been wantonly mur- 
dered, the Council forthwith appointed a com- 
mission with instructions to proceed to Wyo- 
ming, and restore peace by disarming both par- 
ties. And it happened to be the approach of the 



336 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

commissioners under this resolution, that caused 
the raising of the siege of Fort Dickinson. They 
arrived on the 29th, and on the following day a 
conference was held between both parties, but 
without any reconciliation being effected. The 
commissioners^ next made a demand, under the 
authority of the State, for the mutual surrender of 
the arms of the parties, and also of a suitable num- 
ber of persons as hostages, for the preservation of 
the peace. 

But neither persuasion nor demand produced 
the slightest effect upon either party. The truth 
was, both had heard that after the arrival of the 
express in Philadelphia, announcing the beleaguer- 
ment of the fort by the people, the Council of State 
had directed the Lieutenant of the county of North- 
ampton to call forth a body of three hundred in- 
fantry, with a squadron of dragoons, to march for 
the subjugation of the people of Wyoming. A 
simultaneous order was also given to the Sheriff* 
of Northumberland to proceed with the power of 
his county, to the aid of the liieutenant of North- 
ampton. On the same day, viz : the 29th of July, 
the Honorable John Boyd and Colonel John Arm- 
strong were appointed commissioners for concerting 
and executing such measures as they should judge 
necessary for establishing the peace and good 

* Chapman is the authority for these details. The commissioners were 
Thomas Hewitt, David Mead, and Robert Martin. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 337 

t>rder of the disaffected district. Under these 
circumstances, neither party would listen to the 
proposition for disarming. The Pennamites * 
counted upon adequate military support, while the 
Yankees were not disposed to surrender their arms, 
at a moment when a larger military force than 
any they had yet encountered was marching for 
their subjugation. 

Colonel Armstrong proceeded to Easton on the 
1st of August, where his forces were already col- 
lecting. On the 3d he advanced to the eastern 
verge of the Pokono mountain. He had, how- 
ever, previously detached Colonel Moore, with a 
party of volunteers, to a station called Locust Hill, 
about midway of the mountains, which the Major 
was directed to hold for the purpose of keeping 
the passage clear. Hearing of this advance of 
Moore, the people of Wyoming sent forward a 
company under the command of Captain Swift, 
to meet and repel him. This enterprise was ex- 
ecuted with fidelity. Swift took the party of 
Moore by surprise early in the morning of the 
2d of August, and after a brisk attack upon the 
log-house in which they were sheltered, Moore 
retreated with the loss of one man killed, and sev- 
eral wounded. Swift thereupon returned to Wy- 

* Pennamites was the name given the Pennsylvanians by the ConnectleuC 
settlers, who in turn were designated as Yankees,— Intruders, — Insurgents, 
&c. Those civil broils are still called the Pennamite wars in Wyoming. 

30 



338 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

oming, where Colonel Armstrong soon appeared 
at the head, all told, of about four hundred men^ 
including Patterson's troops, and a few milita-men 
from Northumberland. 

The armed forces of the people were so strongly 
entrenched in Fort Forty, that Armstrong dared 
not hazard an attack. He therefore had recourse 
to stratagem. A plausible manifesto was issued, 
declaring that he had come merely for the dispen- 
sation of justice, and the pacification of the valley. 
His object was the protection of the peaceable in- 
habitants, to which end it was necessary that both 
parties should be disarmed. For a time his pro- 
fessions were distrusted by the people ; but ulti- 
mately the earnestness and apparent sincerity of 
his protestations overcame their scruples, and 
numbers of them repaired to Fort Dickinson, to 
comply with his terms, and also to make reclama- 
tion of the property of which they had been plun- 
dered. But they had ample cause to lament their 
credulity, being arrested by scores, pinioned with 
strong cords, and marched off in pairs, strongly 
guarded, to the prisons of Easton and Sunbury. 
Forty- two were sent to the latter prison, ten of 
whom, however, escaped on the morning after 
their arrival. In both prisons they were treated 
with inhumanity ; but the imprisonment at Eas- 
ton was of short duration. On the morning of 
September 17th, as the jailor was conveying their 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 339 

breakfast to them, he was knocked down by a 
young- man named Inman, and the whole body 
made their escape. 

On the departure of the prisoners, Armstrong 
had discharged the principal part of his forces, and 
made preparations with the residue to gather the 
crops planted to his hands by those whom he had 
dispossessed. But his army had been prematurely 
disbanded. With the return of the self-liberated 
prisoners, the residue of the inhabitants took arms, 
and being strengthened by a body of emigrants 
from Vermont, Fort Forty was again occupied, 
and dispositions promptly made to protect what 
remained unharvested of their crops. On the 
20th of September, a party of Armstrong's men, 
engaged in harvesting grain that did not belong 
to them, were attacked and driven into Fort Dick- 
inson. A strong detachment was immediately 
despatched in pursuit of the '' Insurgents,'' as 
Armstrong now called the people in arms ; but 
the latter took refuge in a log-house, which they 
defended with such spirit as to repulse their as- 
sailants, who bore away, as their only trophies, 
two wounded men. 

The people were suffering greatly by reason 
of the surrender of their fire arms ; and hearing 
that Colonel Armstrong had sent to Philadelphia 
for reinforcements, they resolved to make an effort 
for the recovery of those arms, before any more 



340 HJSTORT OF WYOMING. 

troops should arrive. Having ascertained the par- 
ticular block-house in which the arms were de- 
posited, they made an attack on the night of the 
25th, but were repulsed. On the following day 
Colonel Armstrong proceeded to Philadelphia ; 
and on the next, the block-house was carried by 
the people under John Franklin, two of the Pen- 
namite magistrates. Reed and Henderson, mortally 
wounded, and the arms recovered. A full state- 
ment of the transaction was forwarded to the gov- 
ernment by Franklin, acting for the people, in 
which it was declared that they had not been 
prompted by any disposition to disregard the 
laws, but only to be avenged upon Patterson and 
Armstrong for their treachery.* 

Another military expedition against the " insur- 
gents " was immediately determined upon by the 
Council, to consist of two companies of fifty men 
each. The command was again entrusted to 
Colonel x\rmstrong, who was simultaneously pro- 
moted to the office of Adjutant General of the 
State. The President, Mr. Dickinson, made a 
strong remonstrance against this proceeding, in 
writing ; but the Council was resolutely bent upon 
perseverence.f The people of the state, however, 

* Chapman. 

t Pennsylvania, at that time, had no officer bearing the title of governor. 
Under its first independent state constitution, the government of the com- 
monwealth was vested in a House of Representatives, a President, and a 
CoUDCil. There was also another branch of the government instituted by 



HISTORY OF WYOMI]SrG. '341 

were by this time becoming weary of the contest. 
Nor was this all : they were beginning to look 
upon the settlers of Wyoming as the persecuted 
party, and their sympathies were kindling in their 
favor. With all his efforts, therefore, the new 
Adjutant General was enabled to raise only forty 
men, at the head of whom he reappeared in the 
valley on the 16th af October. Fort Forty was 
immediately garrisoned by seventy men, under Mr. 
FranklirL These Armstrong .did not feel strong 
enough to attack, and he called loudly upon the 
■counties of Northampton, Berks, and Bucks, for 
assistance ; but in vain. Neither the Council, nor 
the leaders of the Pennsylvania claimants, could 
induce a single recruit more to engage in a service 
now becoming not unpopular merely, but odious. 
Meantime the period for the septennial meeting 
of the Council of Censors had arrived, and the feel- 
ings of that body had become warmJy enlisted in 
regard to the Wyoming proceedings. Having 
cognizance of the case, the Council called upon 
the General Assembly for the papers and docu- 
ments connected with the controversy. The As- 
sembly disregarded the call, and a mandamus was 

that constitution, called a Board of Censors, chosen by the people, and di- 
rected to meet once in seven years, to inquire whether the constitution had 
in the meantime been violated; whether the legislative and executive 
branches had performed their duties faithfully ; whether the laws had beeu 
<luly and equally executed, &c. &c. 'IJicy could also try impeachments, 
and recommend therej)eal of unwholesome laws, &.c. 

30* 



342 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

issued, which was received and treated with per- 
fect contempt. Finding their authority thus con- 
temned and utterly disregarded, the Council openly 
espoused the cause of the Connecticut settlers, and 
passed a public censure upon the government of 
the state, couched in strong language, for its con- 
duct toward those people — not indeed sanctioning 
the claim of the latter to the soil, but condemning 
all the military and pretended civil proceedings that 
had been adopted against them — especially for the 
reason, that, after becoming subjects of Pennsylva- 
nia, the settlers had not been left to prosecute their 
claims in the proper course, without the interven- 
tion of the legislature. 

The stand thus taken by the Censors strength- 
ened the hands of the colonists, and also those of 
their friends in other parts of the state. The dec- 
laration of the Censors also furnished a reasonable 
excuse to the people to disobey alike the orders of 
the Council of State, and of Colonel Armstrong. 
Not another recruit, therefore, could be obtained ; 
and Armstromg found himself shut up in a block- 
house with a force too weak for offensive action, or 
even to forage for supplies. But the people them- 
selves, even had they not been annoyed by the 
presence of the soldiery, were in a deplorable con- 
dition. All their movable possessions had been 
swept away by the flood in March, and the labors 
of the spring and summer had been subjected to 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 343 

such incessant interruptions, while a large portion 
of their corps had been taken to glut the rapacity 
of their enemies, that they looked forward to the 
approaching winter with gloomy forebodings. 
They again petitioned Congress, and likewise 
made an affecting appeal for the friendly interpo- 
sition of the Legislature of Connecticut. In this 
latter appeal they stated ''that their numbers 
were reduced to about two thousand souls, most 
of whom were women and children, driven, in 
many cases, from their proper habitations, and 
living in huts of bark in the woods, without pro- 
visions for the approaching winter, while the 
Pennsylvania troops and land-claimants were in 
possession of their houses and farms, and wasting 
and destroying their cattle and subsistence." The 
legislature of Connecticut, acknowledging their 
want of jurisdiction, could only express their sym- 
pathy, and promise the exertion of their friendly 
offices in behalf of the memorialists, both with 
Congress and the government of Pennsylvania. 
Happily, however, the settlers were speedily reliev- 
ed from the presence of the mihtary, and that by 
no father effort of their own. As winter approach- 
ed, finding that he could obtain neither recruits 
nor supplies, Colonel Armstrong discharged his 
troops, and returned to Philadelphia.* , 

* Colonel Armstrong, author of the celebrated Nevvburgh Letters, eo 
fraught with danger on the disbanding of the army at the close of the war 



344 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

But although this was the last military demon- 
'stration of Pennsylvania against Wyoming, the 
controversy was not yet ended. The people, it is 
true, were left to the quiet pursuit of their labors 
during the two succeeding years ; still, the question 
of their land titles was unadjusted, and they knew 
not how soon farther attempts might be made to 
dispossess them. There was indeed a kindlier 
feeling arising mutually between the parties ; but 
every effort of the people to obtain a tribunal be- 
fore which their title question should be submitted 
for a final decision, during these two years, was 
nevertheless unavailing. The population, howev- 
er, continued to increase rapidly, not only in their 
own valley, but also above, below and around it ; 
and in the autumn of 1786, the legislature, on the 
petition of the people of Wyoming, and the region 
north of it, to whom it was a great inconvenience 
to attend the court sixty and a hundred miles dis- 
tant, at Sunbury, formed their territory into a new 
county, named " Luzerne," in honor of the Chev- 
alier De La Luzerne, who had just at that period 
returned to France from his embassy to the United 
States. Indeed the indications, upon both sides, 
■rendered it obvious that a compromise was desired 
hj each. 

■of the revolution, and afteTward distinguished in tlie political and literary 
history of the country. He was tlie son of General John Armstrong of 
i'ennsylvania, distinguished in the earlier Indian wars, and sometimes 
called "the hero of Kittinaing." The subject of the present note died 
early in the year 1843, at liis seat in Dutchess County, N. Y. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 345 

It happened at about the same period that Colonel 
Timothy Pickering, of Massachusetts, but at that 
time a resident of Pennsylvania, made a journey 
through Wyoming, to visit a tract of land in which 
he was interested, in and about the Great Bend 
of the Susquehanna, near the New-York line. 
While in Wyoming, Colonel Pickering embraced 
every opportunity to learn the feelings of the peo- 
ple in regard to the protracted dispute, and to as- 
certain the terms upon which their peaceable sub- 
mission to Pennsylvania might be effected. Being 
convinced that the settlers were entirely satisfied 
with the constitution of the state, and were willing 
to submit to its government, provided they could 
be quieted in the possession of their farms, on 
his return to Philadelphia he reported the result 
of his inquiries and convictions to several distin- 
guished gentlemen, among whom were Doctor 
Rush, and Mr. Wilson, an eminent lawyer, and 
afterward a judge of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. The idea was then suggested to 
the minds of the Pennsylvanians, that being a New 
England man, of high character, the services of 
Colonel Pickering might be of great importance 
in effecting an arrangement between the parties. 
The subject was proposed to Mr. Pickering by Dr. 
Rush, with the proffer of an appointment to the 
five principal county oflices, if he would remove 
to Wyoming with a view of exerting himself to 



346 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

put an end to the inveterate and disastrous con- 
troversy. After taking time for consideration, the 
proposition was accepted upon the basis already 
indicated, — viz : that he might assure the Con- 
necticut settlers that the Pennsylvania legislature 
would pass a law quieting them in their posses- 
sions. With this understanding. Colonel Picker- 
ing took the offices, and clothed with the neces- 
sary power by the legislature, to hold elections 
and organize the county, proceeded to Wyoming 
in January, 1787. After spending a full month in 
visiting the people, the Colonel succeeded in per- 
suading them to apply to the legislature for a com- 
promise law, upon the principle heretofore sug- 
gested. His object, however, had well nigh been 
defeated, at one of the preliminary meetings, by a 
suggestion from Major John Jenkins, — known to 
the reader in a former chapter as Lieutenant Jen- 
kins, — who rose and remarked that they had too 
often experienced the bad faith of Pennsylvania, 
to place confidence in any new measure of its leg- 
islature ; and that if they were to enact a quieting 
law, they would repeal it as soon as the Connect- 
icut settlers submitted and were completely sad- 
dled with the laws of the state. Colonel Picker- 
ing, not anticipating any such act of Punic faith, 
repelled the suggestion with great earnestness, and 
at length succeeded in procuring the application. 
The proposition of the memorial was, that in case 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 347 

the commonwealth would grant them the seventeen 
townships which had been laid out, and in which 
settlements had been commenced previous to the 
decree of Trenton, they would on their part re- 
linquish all their claims to any other lands within 
the limits of the Susquehanna purchase.* The 
towns were represented to be as nearly square as 
circumstances would permit, and to be about five 
miles on a side, and severally divided into lots of 
three hundred acres each. Some of these lots 
were set apart as glebes, some for schools, and 
others for various tow^n purposes, &c. 

Colonel Pickering proceeded to Philadelphia 
with the memorial, and aided, by his advice and 
counsel, the passage of the law. The case was 
environed with difficulties, not the least of which 
was the fact that many of the best lands, occupied 
by the Connecticut claimants, had likewise been 
granted by the Government of Pennsylvania to its 
own citizens. It was of course necessary that 
these claims should be quieted likewise. But as 
the state had three years before extinguished the 
Indian title to several millions of acres of land, 
there was no lack of means for making new grants 
to those who might suffer in the arrangement 

• Chapman. These townships were, E?leni, ?Tewport, Hanover, Wllkes- 
barre, r,u ton, Westmor laiui, Putnam, Craintiee, Springfield, Ciaver- 
ack, Ulster, Exeter, Kingston, Plymouth, Bedford, Huntington, and 
Providence. 



348 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

with the Connecticut settlers. Be that as it might, 
the difficulties were surmounted ; a law, which it 
was supposed would answer every purpose intend- 
ed, was passed ; under which commissioners were 
appointed to examine the claims on both sides ;* 
those of the Connecticut settlers to ascertain who 
were entitled to hold by the terms of the law ; 
those of the Pennsylvanians, to ascertain the qual- 
ity, and appraise the value of each tract. 

The commissioners met in Wyoming in May, 
and made their arrangements preliminary to a for- 
mal examination and adjustment of such claims as 
might be presented to them at another session, to 
be held in August and September. The law gave 
general satisfaction to the people within the sev- 
enteen townships embraced in its provisions ; and 
the commissioners entered upon their labors, at 
the time appointed, with a fair prospect of com- 
pleting the work within a reasonable time. But 
fresh difficulties arose in another quarter. The 
Connecticut settlements had been extended, in 
several directions, considerably beyond the limits 
of the towns designated, and the people of those 
settlements were greatly dissatisfied because they 
were not included in the arrangement. It is be- 
lieved, moreover, that pending the negotiations for 
the compromise, the Susquehanna Company had 

* The commissioners were Timothy Pickering, William Montgomery, 
and Stephen Balliott. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING, 349 

been exerting themselves to pour as many settlers 
into those unincluded districts as possible. Colo- 
nel Pickering asserts positively, that " they invited 
and encouraged emigrations from the states east- 
ward of Pennsylvania, of all men destitute of prop- 
erty, who could be tempted by the gratuitous offer 
<of lands, on the single condition that they should 
enter upon them armed, ' to man their rights,' 
according to the cant phrase of the day. By this 
arrangement the Company hoped to pour in such 
a mass of young and able-bodied men as would 
appear formidable to the Pennsylvania government, 
to subdue and expel whom would require a consid- 
erable military force, to be raised and maintained 
at a heavy expense of treasure, and perhaps of 
blood ;" to avoid which evils they hoped that 
Pennsylvania would ultimately be brought to their 
own terms. John Franklin had exerted himself, 
beyond doubt, for that object ; and he now became 
the leader of a new party, determined to defeat 
the execution of the law. He was a man of activ- 
ity, shrewdness, and great energy and influence ; 
and by visiting the people of the settlements, he 
soon stirred up a commotion that compelled the 
commissioners to flee from the country for safety. 
Evidence of his practices having been communica- 
ted to Chief Justice M'Kean, his warrant was issued 
for the arrest of Franklin on a charge of treason. 
It was not judged advisable to direct the sheriff of 
31 



350 HISTORY OF WYOMING* 

Luzerne, who had just been electeel, and whose 
residence was among the turbulent men under the 
influence of Frankhn, to serve the writ, and it was 
therefore directed to four gentlemen of known 
fortitude, two of wliom had served in the army of 
the revolution. Franklin was at the time absent 
on an incendiary mission, thirty-five miles farther 
down the valley. On his return, every necessary 
preparation having been made for his safe conduct 
to Philadelphia, he was arrested. He resisted the 
special officers, however, to the utmost, and would 
unquestionably have effected his escape, or been 
rescued, — for the people were already assembling 
with that design, — had it not been for the exer- 
tions and the courage of Colonel Pickering. Ob- 
serving the commotion from the window, he rushed 
out with a pair of loaded pistols, and caused 
Franklin to be secured by cords, and bound upon 
the horse prepared for his journey. He w^as then 
conducted off, and taken in safety to Philadelphia, 
and thrown into prison. 

Colonel Pickering always avowed that he should 
not have interfered in the case but for the convic- 
tion tliat the welfare of the people and the public 
peace depended upon securing the person of that 
daring man. Deeply, however, did he incur the 
resentment of Franklin's partizans. Their leader 
had scarcely disappeared in the direction of Phil- 
adelphia, before symptoms were discovered that 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 351 

vengeance was to be wreaked upon the head of 
Colonel Pickering, and he was admonished by his 
friendly neighbors that it would be wise for him 
to leave his domicil for a short period, until their 
passions had time to cooL He listened to the 
admonition, just in time to secrete himself in a 
neighboring wood before " the Philistines were 
upon him." Returning to his family in the even- 
ing, some of his neighbors assembled in arms for 
his protection ; but before he had finished his sup- 
per, tidings came thai Franklin's men were em- 
bodying in arms on the opposite side of the river, 
and were even then preparing to cross over and 
attack him. Taking a loaded pistol with him, and 
a few small biscuits, the Colonel retired to a neigh- 
boring field, and was soon apprised by the yells of 
the insurgents that he had not effected his escape 
a moment too soon. The noise subsiding, he 
eorreetly judged that the neighbors who had arm- 
ed for his defence, and had fastened the house, 
had been compelled to surrender. Such proved 
to be the fact, and the insurgents made a thorough 
search of the house in the hope of finding the ob- 
ject of their vengeance. Having been joined by 
Mr. Evan Griffith, Secretary af the Commissioners, 
and an inmate of Colonel Pickering's house, the 
two retired to the mountains, where they passed 
the night. Through a German friend occupying 
caie of his farms, the Colonel was enabled on the 



352 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

following day to communicate with his family. 
Ascertaining in this way that it would be unsafe 
for him to return, and that the search for him was 
yet continued. Colonel Pickering determined to 
make his way to Philadelphia, and from the dis- 
tance watch the course of events. It was near 
the middle of October. He was without provis- 
ions, and thinly clad ; but no time was to be lost, 
and he was compelled to direct his course through 
the deep forests and over the mountains heretofore 
described. There was, indeed, an indifferent road 
lieading in the proper direction ; but by attempting 
to travel upon this, he had well nigh fallen into 
the hands of a party of insurgents who were on 
the watch to intercept his flight. Yet, after a se- 
vere journey, the Colonel arrived in safety at Phil- 
adelphia, about a month after the convention that 
formed the Constitution of the United States had 
adjourned. 

Franklin had arrived there before him, and was 
in jail. Deprived of his counsel and leadership, 
his insurgent partizans, reflecting upon the rash- 
ness of their conduct, and also upon its iilogality, 
began to relent, and sent a petition to the Council, 
acknowledging their offence, and praying for a par- 
don. This was readily granted, and conveyed to 
them by Colonel Dennison, member of the Council 
from Luzerne. Colonel Pickering now supposed 
of course that he could join his family in safety ; 



History of Wyoming 353 

but having anived within twenty-five miles of 
Wyoming, a messenger whom he had despatched 
in advance, to ascertain the popular feeling, met 
him w4th a message from his friends that it would 
yet be unsafe for him to come into the valley. 
Upon the receipt of these ad'vices, he returned to 
Philadelphia, where he remained until January. 
Meantime a state convention had been called to 
deliberate upon the draft of a constitution submit- 
ted to the people of the United States by the na- 
tional convention on the 17th of September, — to 
which state convention Colonel Pickering was 
chosen a delegate by the people of that very county 
from which he was kept in banishment ! What a 
striking illustration does this fact present, of the 
inconsistencies into which the people may be hur- 
ried by passion and caprice \ They would select 
Colonel Pickering, of all others, to sit in judgment 
upon an instrument, which, if adopted, was to be- 
come the grand regulating machine of their politi- 
cal and religious principles, — the charter of their 
liberty, and that of their posterity, in all time to 
come, — while they would not trust the same in- 
dividual to decide for them in the matter of a 
contested title to a few hundred dollars worth of 
land ! 

Having attended to his duties in the conven- 
tion. Colonel Pickering presented himself among 

his constituents in January, 178S. Franklin yet 
31* 



354 HISTORY OF WTO^nNG,, 

remained in prison. Next to his confinement, the 
out-and-out opponents of the compromise law 
deemed the presence of Colonel Pickering within 
the disputed territory, as working the greatest 
detriment to their schemes. There were various 
indications, therefore, for several weeks, that a con- 
spiracy was on foot to drive him from the county. 
Indeed it was menacingly intimated to him by 
Major Jenkins, in the month of April, that such 
was the fact. But the Colonel was neither dis- 
posed to relinquish the cause of pacification in 
which he had engaged, nor to abandon his farms 
and improvements. He therefore pursued his oc- 
cupations as usual, until the night of the 26th of 
June, when he was awakened from his sleep by a 
violent opening of the door of his apartment. — 
*' Who is there ?." he demanded. '' Get up," was 
the answer. " Don't strike," said Colonel Picker- 
ing; " I have an infant on my arm." Then roll- 
ing the child from his arm, the Colonel arose and 
dressed, while Mrs. Pickering slipped out of bed' 
on the other side, and throwing on a few clothes 
groped her way to the kitchen for a light, on re- 
turning with which they saw the room filled with 
men armed with guns and hatchets, with black- 
ened faces, and handkerchiefs tied around their 
heads. Their first act was to pinion tlie Colonel 
by tying his arms across his back with a strong 
cord, — long enough for one of the party to holdi 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 355' 

m order to prevent an escape, — having in the 
course of their proceedings admonished Mrs. Pick- 
ering that they would tomahawk her if she made 
any noise. Having thus secured his person, they 
advised him to take a blanket, or a thick outer 
garment with him, as he would be a long time in 
a situation to need it. Mrs. Pickering thereupon 
handed the Colonel his surtout, and they depart- 
ed with their captive. It appeared that there 
were fifteen of the ruffians. Not a word more 
than was necessary was spoken, and their march 
in the darkness and stillness of the night was 
along the valley north to Pittstown, ten miles, 
where they halted at a tavern for a few minutes. 
After refreshing themselves with whiskey, — not 
omitting to offer some to their captive, which was 
declined, — they pursued their journey, while it 
was yet dark as Erebus. They had not proceed- 
ed far from the tavern, before one of the ruffians 
marching by the Colonel's side broke silence by 
saying : — 

" Nov/, if you will only write two or three hues 
to the Executive Council, they will discharge Co- 
lonel Franklin, and we will release you." 

The object of the abduction was at once dis- 
closed. But the ruffians had mistaken their man.. 
The instant reply of the Colonel was, — 

^^ The Executive Council better understand their 



356 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

duty than to discharge a traitor to procure the re- 
lease of an innocent man." 

"Damn him!" exclaimed one of the party, 
marching as a guard in the rear, whose wrath had 
been excited by the apphcation of the epithet 
*' traitor" to Frankhn, 'Mvhy don't yoo: tomahawk 
him ?" 

Their march was then coiiti^nued in the same 
sullen silence as before. Bad as they were, how- 
ever, these misguided' men were not altogether 
destitute of civility, or kind feelings. On their 
arrival at the Lackawannock river, finding the 
water so low that the canoe grounded in crossing 
it, one of the party waded to the shore, and divest- 
ing himself of his pack, returned and carried the 
Colonel over on his back.. 

In the course of the morning they crossed to the 
west side of the Susquehanna, by a ferry, and pur- 
sued their journey thirty miles from Wilkesbarre, 
to a log-house, near the river, at which they halted, 
and cooked some victuals, of which they all made 
a hearty meal — it being the first food they had 
tasted since the night before. Seeing a bed in the 
room. Colonel Pickering lay down to rest, and 
found himself unpinioned when he arose. While 
he was on the bed, and, as the party supposed, 
asleep, they were overtaken by a man from Joseph's 
Plains, two miles from Wilkesbarre, who informed 
tliem that the militia had turned out, and were in 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. S57 

pursuit. The' insurgents immediately disturbed 
the repose of their prisoner, and retired back from 
the river about a quarter of a mile, encamping 
behind a hill in the woods. Here they remained 
during the night, encountering a severe thunder- 
storm. In the morning, finding all quiet at the 
river, they returned to the house, where they 
obtained breakfast. At about ten o'clock, a man 
was descried' on the opposite side of the river, 
leading his horse, at which one of the party ex- 
claimed — "There goes Major Jenkins, now, — a 

d — d stinking son of a !" It was obvious 

from this remark, that Jenkins had been prompt- 
ing the outrage, but with more cunning than bold- 
ness, had avoided any direct participation in its 
execution. He was indeed at that time leaving 
Wyoming for the state of New- York, where he 
employed himself as w. land surveyor until tran- 
quility had been restored. 

Preparations were now making to cross to the 
eastern side of the Susquehanna ; and as the 
blacking began by this time to disappear from the 
faces of the captors. Colonel Pickering discerned 
among the party two sons of a near neighbor, 
named Dudley — Gideon and Jacob. These were 
the only persons of the gang whom he knew. 
Before entering the canoe, one of them attempted 
to manacle the prisoner with a pair of handcuffs^, 
against which he remonstrated ; and at the inter-. 



S58 HISTORY OF WYOMING^ 

position of a man named Earl, who also had two 
sons of the party, the Colonel was spared that in- 
convenience and degradation. Having crossed 
the river, after an hour's march, the leader of the 
party despatched all but four of his men upon sep- 
arate duty. With these four to guard the prison- 
er, the leader struck off directly into the woods. 
The Colonel's pnprehensions were somewhat ex- 
cited by this movement — more so from the circum- 
stance that he had heard the leader described as a 
bold, bad man. But his apprehensions of personal 
injury were groundless. They had not travelled 
more than an hour before a fawn was started, 
" and as he bounded along, this leader, who was, 
an expert hunter, shot liim, and in five minutes 
he had his skin off, and the carcass slung upon 
his back." At the distance of three or four miles 
from the river, on arriving at a brook that came 
d'ancing across their course, they halted, sti'uck a 
fire, and began to cook some of their venison.. 
*' The hunter who had killed it, — their leader, — 
took the first cut. They sharpened small sticks 
at both ends, running one into a slice of the fawn, 
and setting the other into the ground, tlie top of 
t'he stick bein2^ so near the fire as to broil the 
flesh," Being hungry, the Colonel borrowed one 
of their knives and began cooking for himself.. 
He observed that the hunter was tending his steak: 
with great nicety, — sprinkling it with salt,— and 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 359 

as soon as it was done, with a very good grace, 
he presented it to their captive. 

They erected a booth with branches of trees, 
and remained at this place about a week — most 
of the time upon short allowance of food, and that 
of a coarse quality. In the course of their con- 
versations, they had informed the Colonel that 
they were to be supported by a body of four hun- 
dred men. He assured them that they were de- 
ceiving themselves, and that they would be sorry 
for what they were doing, since, so far from being 
supported, they would be abandoned to their fate. 
From this station they removed to another, in a 
narrow sequestered valley, not more than tvv^o or 
three miles from the river. Here they produced 
a chain five or six feet long, having at one end a 
fetter for the anckle. They said they were re- 
luctant to put the chain upon him, but Colonel 
Franklin had been put in irons, and " their great 
men required it.'' The chain was then made fast 
to the prisoner's leg, and the other end fastened to 
a tree by a staple. Escape was now impossible. 
Another booth was erected, and when they lay 
down for the night, one of the guards wound the 
chain around one of his own legs. But the Colo- 
nel had no design of attempting an escape. Sa- 
tisfied that they did not intend to take his life, he 
determined in his own mind to await the course 



S60 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

of events with as much patience as he could com*" 
mand. 

They had been at this place but two or three 
days, when, one morning, before his guards were 
awake, the Colonel heard a brisk firing, as of 
musketry, in the direction of the river. But of 
this circumstance he said nothing to his keepers, 
not doubting, in his own mind, that it was a skir- 
mish between the insurgents and the militia, sent 
after them, and for his rescue. Such proved to 
be the fact. After breakfast -one of his keepers 
went down to a house in their interest by the 
river, but returned in haste, to inform his com- 
rades that ''th€ boys," as they called their asso- 
ciates, had met the militia, and that Captain Ross, 
who commanded the latter, was mortally wound- 
ed.* They were now at Black Walnut Bottom, 
forty-four miles above Wilke&barre. During the 
whole time, the guards of Colonel Pickering were 
in communication with their comrades in the vi- 



* Happily this statement was erroneous. The Captain Ross here spoken 
of, is the late General ROss of Wllkesbarre. " A company of about fif- 
teen men under Captain William Ross pursued the rioters, but as they had 
concealed themselves in the woods, among the mountains of Mahoopeny, 
the place of theiY retreat was not easily ascertained, particularly as their 
movements were enly in the night ; for during the day they lay concealed 
to guard their prisoner, who was kept bound to a tree. About the dawn 
of the day, Captain Ross's company fell in with a company of the rioters, 
near the mouth of Meshoppen Creek, and a skirmish ensued in which 
Captain Ross was wounded. Colonel Myers and Captain Schotts also 

iproceeded with a portion of the militia, in pursuit of the rioters. A sword 
was afterward presented to Captain Ross, by the Supreme Executive Couh- 

'cil,, for his gallantry in this affair." — Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING* 361 

cinity ; and after this affair with Captain Ross, 
they were evidently becoming more uneasy every 
hour. They changed their stations several time 5, 
and again crossed to the west side of the river, 
under cover of the night. On the 15th of July, 
Gideon Dudley, who seemed to have become the 
leader of the party, visited the station where Co- 
lonel Pickering was kept, and attempted to renew 
the negotiation for his influence in behalf of 
Franklin. But the Colonel positively refused to 
purchase his own liberty in that manner. He 
was then asked by Dudley if he would intercede 
for their pardon, m the event of his release. He 
toM them he would answer no questions until 
they knc-cked off his chain. It was instantly 
taken off. The Colonel then said to them, that in 
the belief that they had been deluded and de- 
ceived,— that they had been acting in obedience 
to the orders of those whom they called their 
" great men,"— he would exert his influence for 
their pardon, if they would give him their names ; 
adding, that he entertained no doubt of being able 
to obtain it. The demand of names was not rea- 
dily assented to, causing the delay of a day in the 
negotiation. On the 16th they removed to the 
house of a man named Kilburne, father of two of 
the party. The Colonel, who had been nineteen 
days without a razor for his beard, or a change 
of clothes, was here provided with shaving ap- 
32 



S62 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

paratus and a clean shirt and stockings, and then 
informed that he was at hberty. A comfortable 
dinner was next prepared, after which " the boys" 
importunately renewed their application in behalf 
of Franklin. This request was again peremptorily 
refused. In regard to themselves,— thirty-two 
of the party being then present, — the Colonel 
again proffered his influence in their behalf, on 
condition that the names of their '^ great men" 
should be given up. But after a side consulta- 
tion they rejected the terms, declaring that the 
severest punishment in the world to come ought 
to be meted to any one of their number who 
should betray them. 

Their last request to Colonel Pickering was, 
that he would write a petition for them to the Ex- 
ecutive Council, and be the bearer of it himself to 
Wilkesbarre, whence he might forward it for them 
to Philadelphia. To this request he assented ; 
and forthwith took his departure for his own home 
where he arrived on the following day without 
farther molestation. 

The sequel to this singular outrage upon Colo- 
nel Pickering is briefly told. Without waiting for 
the result of their petition to tlie Council, most 
of the actual perpetrators of the outrage fled north- 
ward, taking refuge in the State of New-York. 
On their way thither they encountered a detach- 
ment of militia, under the command of Captain 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 363 

Roswell Franklin, who had been sent out in pur- 
suit of them, and with whom they exchanged sev- 
eral shots. By one of them Joseph Dudley was 
badly wounded. The others escaped. Dudley 
was conveyed to Wilkesbarre, a distance of sixty 
or seventy miles, in a canoe. The physician who 
was sent for had no medicine, and the wants of 
the wounded man were supplied from the med.- 
cine chest of Colonel Pickering, which had been 
made up by Dr. Rush. He survived but a few 
days, and Mrs. Pickering furnished a winding 
sheet for his burial. 

At the Oyer and Terminer held in Wilkesbarre 
the succeeding autumn, several of the rioters were 
tried and convicted. ^' They were fined and im- 
prisoned, in different sums, and for different 
lengths of time, according to th3 aggravation of 
their offence. But they had no money wherewith 
to pay their fines, and the jail at Wilkesbarre was 
so insufl[icient, that they all made their escape, ex- 
cepting Stephen Jenkins, brother of Major John 
Jenkins." Although concerned in the plot, he 
was not in arms with the insurgents ; and when 
the others escaped, he preferred to remain and 
trust to the clemency of the government. The 
consequence was that he soon afterward received 
a pardon. 

Captain Roswell Franklin, whose name has just 
been inentioned, is pronounced by Colonel Picker- 



364 HISTORY OF WyOMlNt?. 

ing to have been a worthy man, but he came to 
a melancholy end. " Wearied with the disorders 
and uncertain state of things at Wyoming, he re- 
moved with his family into the State of New- 
York, and sat down upon a piece of land to which 
he had no title. Others had done the same. The 
country was new and without inhabitants. They 
cleared land, and raised crops, to subsist th ir 
families and stock. In two or three years, after 
all their crops for the season were ha vested, th. ir 
hay and grain in stack, and they anticipated ] ass- 
ing the approaching winter comfortably, Governor 
George Clinton sent orders to the sheriff of the 
nearest county to raise the militia and drive off 
the untitled occupants. These orders were as se- 
verely as promptly executed, and ths barns and 
crops all burnt. Reduced thus to despair. Cap- 
tain Franklin shot himself*"^ John Franklin, so 

* Pickering's Letter to his Son. There is reason, however, to question 
the accuracy of this statement as to the suicide of Roswell Franklin, as 
will be seen by the following obituary notice, copied from a newspaper 
published at Auburn, (N. Y.) in the Spring of 1843:—" Died, on the 2Sth 
ult., at his late residence near Aurora, Maj. Roswell Franklin, in the 
75th year of li.is age. The deceased was a native of Connecticut — liis fa- 
ther emigrated to the valley of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, — both were en- 
gaged in the battle with the Indians and English at that place, which was 
BO disastrous to the States. The mother and one sister were butchered 
before their eyes, another sister was taken prisoner by the Indians and 
retained among them eleven years at Niagara. The deceased was also 
taken prisoner and retained among them about three years near Mount 
Morris, Livingston county. In the spring of 1787, the deceased emigrated 
with his father to the banks of Cayuga Labe, where the now beautiful vil- 
lage of Aurora stands. With boughs and barks they formed a shelter, and 
in the Autumn of that year, the first 'log cabin' ever erected in Cayuga 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



365 



often mentioned, and whose arrest and imprison- 
ment for his treasonable practices was the cause 
of the abduction of Colonel Pickering, was indict- 
ed, and remained in prison for a considerable pe- 
riod. He was ultimately liberated on bail ; and 
after all opposition to the government in Luzerne 
county had ceased, he was fully discharged. His 
popularity with the people remained, and he was 
afterward, for several years, a member of the Penn- 
sylvania Legislatui^e. Meeting with Colonel 
Pickering in subsequent years, they interchanged 
the ordinary civilities that pass between gentle- 
men.* 

The prediction of Major John Jenkins to Colo- 
nel Pickering, at the time wlien the latter gentle- 
man undertook the pacification of the valley, that 
even should the General Assembly pass the de- 
sired compromise act, they would repeal it at their 

county by civilized man, vva^ raised by tliem, (only tweUe feet square.) 
A gentleman of Aurora has in lii.s possession, a portion of the sill of this 
Cabin, also a portion of the Oati stump which stood near ihe door, dugout 
and used for pounding corn. The deceased was a most exemplary man. — 
For more than forty years he was a deacon in the Presbyterian churchi-s 
of Aurora and Genoa." The place where Captain Roswell Franklin set- 
tled, therefore, was not upon the disputed territory referied to by Colonel 
Pickering, nor do the circumstances narrated agree with the facts indica-. 
ted in this obituary of the Son. 

* In closing this narrative of the captivity of Colonel Pickering in W}'- 
oming, it is proper to say that the facts have been drawn immediately from 
the letter to hid son, cited occasiop-'Uy in. Hie notes to .some of the prece- 
ding chapters. For a copy of this letter, which was first read by the author 
about ten years ago, he- is rnd;>ibted! lo VVilliam .M'llhenny, Esiq., Lihr^riaa 
of Hie Philadelphia Alhenajum, who found it in Hazard's Peftn.-jl.yania 
Begiater, wbere it was published in the spring of 183i, 

32* 



366 HISTORY OF WYOMTNG. 

own pleasure, was verified, sooner, perhaps, than 
the prophet himself anticipated. But the turbu- 
lent settlers had themselves to thank for this vio- 
lation of the public faith, if a violation of faith it 
could be called which was superinduced by the 
bad conduct of many of those for whose chief ben- 
efit the law had been originally designed. The 
law was suspended in the year succeeding the 
transactions detailed in the present chapter, and 
was afterward entirely repealed. '' Thus the 
question of title was again thrown into its former 
position, and during the succeeding ten years 
continued to retard the settlement of the country, 
and to create continual contention and distrust 
between the respective claimants. But the situa- 
tion of the inhabitants was very different from 
what it had been in former stages of the contro- 
versy. They were represented in the General 
Assembly by one of their own number, and were 
the executors of the laws within their own district. 
Pennsylvania had adopted a new constitution, and 
was governed by a more hberal policy. Petitions 
were again presented to the legislature for the 
passage of another law, upon the principles of the 
one which had been repealed, and, in April, 1799, 
an act was passed in conformity to the prayer of 
the petition, so far as it regarded the seventeen 
townships contemplated by the original law.^'* 

* Chapman. 



HISTOllY OF WY03IING. 367 

The difficulties connected with the settlement of 
that portion of the Susquehanna Company's claim 
not included by the act, were continued two or 
three years longer, during which the Company 
exerted itself as before, in sending forward clouds 
of adventurous spirits to plant themselves upon 
the disputed territory ; nor did they desist until 
the Legislature of Pennsylvania had provided 
against farther intrusions by a bill of severe pains 
and penalties. Ultimately the claims were all qui- 
eted, and the Pennsylvania titles fairly established. 
The population of that portion of Pennsylvania, 
is chiefly from New-England ; and for the last 
thirty-five years the valley of Wyoming has been 
as remarkable for its tranquillity, as for the fifty 
preceding years it had been for its turbulence. 
It is indeed a lovely spot, which, had Milton seen 
it before the composition of his immortal Epic, 
might well have suggested some portions of his gor- 
geous description of Paradise. The lofty and ver- 
dant mountains which shut the valley from the rest 
of the world, correspond well with the great poet's 



-enclosure green, 



******* 
Of a steep wilderness ; whose hairy sides 
With thicl<et overgrown, grotesque and wild, 
Access denied ; while overhead up grew 
Insuperable height of loftiest shade, 
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palnij 
A sylvan scene ; and as the ranks ascend, 
Shade above shade, a woody theatre 
Of stateliest view." 



368 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Wyoming is larger, by far, than the Thessalian 
vale which the poets of old so often sang, though 
not less beautiful. If its mountain-barriers are 
not honored by the classic names of Ossa and 
Olympus, they are much more lofty. Instead of 
the Peneus, a mightier river rolls its volume 
through its verdant meadows ; and if the gods of 
the Greek Mythology were wont to honor Tempe 
with their presence, in times of old, they would 
prove their good taste, and their love of the ro- 
mantic and beautiful, in these modern days, by 
taking an occasional stroll among the cool shades 
and flowery paths of AVyqming^ 



NOTES 
TO GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

PART r. 



Stanza 3, 1. 6. 
From vierry mock-bird's song: 
The mocking-bird is of the form, but larger, than the thrush; and the 
colors are a mixture of black, white, and gray. What is said of the night- 
ingale by its greatest admirers, is what may with more propriety apply to 
this bird, who, in a natural state, sings with very superior taste. Towards 
evening I have heard one begin softly, reserving its breath to swell certain 
notes, which, by this means, had a most astonishing effect. A gentleman 
in London had one of these birds for six years. During the space of a min- 
ute he was heard to imitate the woodlark, chaffinch, blackbird, thrush, and 
sparrow. In this country (America) I have frequently known the mock- 
ing-birds so engaged in this mimicry, that it was with much difficulty 1 
could ever obtain an opportunity of heariag their own natural note. Some 
go so far as to say, tUat they have neither peculiar notes, nor favorite imi- 
tations. This may be denied. Their few natural notes resemble those of 
the (European) nightingale. Their song, however, has a greater compass 
and volume than the nightingale, aud they have the faculty of varying all 
intermediate notes in a n^anuer which is truly delightful. — .^s/te's Travels 
in America, vol. ii. p^ 73. 

Stanza 5, 1. ^. 
And distant isles that hear the loud Corbreohtan roar. 

The Corybrechtan, or Corbrechtan, is a whirlpool on the western coast 
of Scotland, near the island of Jura, which is heard at a prodigious distance. 
Its name signifies the whirlpool of the Prince of Denmark ; and there is a 
tradition that a Danish Prirtce once undertook, for a wager, to cast anchor 
in it. He is said to have used wollen instead of hempen ropes, for greater 
strength, but perished in the attempt. On the shores of Argyleshire, I have 
often listened with great delight to the sound of this vortex, at the distance 



370 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

of many leagues. When the weather is calm, and the adjacent sea scarce- 
ly heard on these picturesque shores, its sound, which is like the sound of 
innumerable chariots, create a magnificent and fine effect. 

Stanza. 13, 1. 4. 
Ofbushin'd limb and swarthy lineament. 
In the Indian tribes there i.s a great similarity in their color, stature, &.c. 
They are all, except the Snake Indians, tall in stature, straight, and robust. 
It is Tery seldom they are deformed, which has given rise to the supposition 
that they put to death their deformed children. Their skin is of a copper 
color ; their eyes large, bright, black, and sparkling, indicative of a subtle 
and discerning mind ; their hair is of the same color, and prone to be long, 
Beldom or never curled. Their teeth are large and white ; I never observ- 
ed any decayed among them, which makes their breath as sweet as the 
air they inhale. — Travels through America by Capts, Lewis and Clarke, in 
1824_5_6. 

Stanza 14, 1. 6. 
Peace be to thee .' my ivords this belt approve^ 

The Indians of North America accompany every formal address to stran- 
gers, with whom they form or recognise a treaty of amity, with a present 
of a string or belt of Wampum. Wampum (says Cadwaliader Golden) is 
made of the large whelk shell, Buccinum, and shaped liked long beads j 
it is the current money of the Indians. -r-,i?to«orj/ of the Five Indian JVarion*, 
p. 34. — JVtw- York edition. 

Stanza 14, 1. 7. 
IVie paths of peace my steps have hither led. 
In relating an interview of Mohawk Indians with the Governor of New- 
York, Golden quotes the following passage as a specimen of their metaphor- 
ical manner : " Where shall I seek the chair of peace .' Where shall I find 
it but upon our path.' and whither doth our path lead us but unto thia 
bouse ?" 

Stanza 15, 1 2. 
Our wampum league thy brethren did embrace. 
When they solicit the alliance, offensive or defensive, of a whole nation, 
they send an embassy with a large belt of wampum and a bloody hatchet, 
Inviting them to come and drink the bloodof their enemies. The wampum 
made use of on these and other occasions, before their acquaintance with 
the Europeans, was nothing but small shells which they picked up by the 
sea-coasts, and on the banks of the lakes ; and now it is nothing but a 
kind of cylindrical beads, made of shells, white and black, which are es- 
teemed aiBong them as silver and gold are among us. The black they call 



NOTES TO PART I. ' 371 

the most valuable, and both togellior are their greatest riches and ornanientsj 
these among them answering all the end that money does with us. They 
have the art of stringing, twisting, and interweaving tiiem into their belts, 
collars, blankets, and moccasins, &,c., in ten thousand different sizes, 
forms, and figures, so as to be ornaments for every part of dress, and ex- 
pressive to them of all their important transactions. They dye the wam- 
pum of various colors and shades, and mix and dispose them with great 
ingenuity and order, and so as to be significant among themselves of almost 
every thing they please ; so that by these their words are kept, and their 
thoughts communicated to one another, as ours are by writing. The belt* 
that puss from one nation to another in all treaties, declarations, and im- 
portant transactions, are very carefully preserved in the cabins of their 
chiefs, and serve not only as a kind of record or history, but as a public 
treasure. — Major Rog-erd^s Account ofJSTorth America. 

Stanza 17,1. 5. 
As tbhcn the ert;i.l Manitou, 

It is certain that the Indians acknowledge one Supreme Being, or Giver 
of Life, who presides over all things ; that is, the Great Spirit; and they 
look up to him as the source of good, from whence no evil can proceed. 
They also believe m a bad Spirit, to whom they ascribe great power; and 
suppose that through his power all the evils which befall mankind are af- 
flicted. To him, therefore, they pray in their distresses, begging that he 
would either avert their troubles, or moderate them when they are no 
longer unavoidable-. 

They hold also that there are good Spirits of a lower degree, who have 
their particular departments, in which they are constantly contributing to 
the happiness of mortals. These they suppose to preside over all the ex- 
traordinary productions of Nature, such as those lakes, rivers, and moun- 
tains, that are of uncommon magnilude ; and likewise the beasts, birds, 
fishes, and even vegetables or stones, that exceed the rest of their speciea 
in size or singularity. — darkens Travels among the Indians^ 

The Supreme Spirit of good is called by the Indians Kitchi Manitou j 
and the Spirit of evil, Matchi Manitou. 

Stanza 19, 1.2. 
Fever-balm and street sagamite. 

The fever-balm is a medicine used by these tribes; it is a decoction of a 
bush called the Fever Tree. Sagamite is a kind of soup administered to 
their sick. 

Stanza 20, 1. 1. 
And /, the eagle of my tribe, have rushed with this lorn dove. 
The testimony of all travellers among the American Indians who mention 
their hieroglyphics, authorizes me in putting this figurative language in the 



372 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



mouth of Outalissi. The clove is among Ihem, as elsewhere, an embleirt 
of meekness ; and the eagle, that of a bold, noble, and liberal mind. When 
the Indians speak of a vvarfier who soars above the multitude in person 
and endowments, tiiey say, " he is like the eagle, who destroys his ene^ 
mies, and gives protection and abundance to the weak of his own tribe." 

Stanza 23, 1. 2 
jFar differently, the mute Onieda toolc, etc. 

They are extremely circumspect and deliberate in every word and action j 
nothing hurries them into any intemperate wrath, but that inveteracy to 
Iheir enemies, which is rooted in every Indian's breast. In all other in- 
stances they are cool and deliberate, taking care to suppress the emotions 
of the heart. If an Indian has discovered that a Iriend of his is in danger 
of being cut off by a lurking enemy, he does hot tell him of his danger in 
•direct terms, as though he were in fear, but he first coolly asks him which 
way he is going that day, and having his answer, with the same indiffer- 
ence tells him that he has been informed that a noxious beast lies on the 
rOule iiie is going. This hint proves f^ufficient, and his friend avoids the 
danger with as much caution as though every design and motion of his 
enemy had been pointed out to him. 

If an Indian has been engagsd for several days in the chase, and by ac- 
cident continued long without food, when he arrives at the hut of a friend 
where he knows his wants will be immediately supplied, he lakes care 
not to slrow the least symptoms of impatience, or betray the extreme hun- 
ger that he is tortured with; but on being invited in, sits contentedly down 
and smokes his pipe witli as much composure as if his appetite was cloyed, 
and he was perfectly at ease. He does the same if among strangers. This 
custom is strictly adhered to by every "tribe, as they esteem it as a proof of 
foirtitude, and tliink the reverse would entitle them to the appellation of 
old women. 

If you tell an Indian that his children have greatly signalized themselves 
against an enemy, have taken many scalps, and brought home many pris- 
oners, lie does not appear to feel any strong emotions of pleasure on the 
occasion ; his answer generally is — they have" done well," and he makes 
but very little inquiry about the matter ; on the contrary, if you inform him 
that his children are slain or taken prisoners, he makes no complaints: he 
only replies, "It is unfortunate: — and for some time asks no questions 
about how it happened. — Leivis and darkens Travels. 

Stanza 23, 1. 3. 

ffls calumet of peace, Sjt. 

Nor is the calumet of less importance or less reveretl than the wampum, 

in many transactions relative bolli to peace and war. The bowl of this 

pipe is made of a kind of soft red stone, which is easily wrought and hoi- 



^JOfES TO PART 1. 373 

k)Wed out ; the stem is of cane, alder, or some kind of light wood, painted 
with different colors, and decorated with the heads, tails, and feathers oX 
the most beautiful birds. The use of the calumet is to smoke either tobac- 
co, or some bark, leaf, or herb, which they often use instead of it, when 
Ihey enter into an alliance, or any serious occasion, or solemn engage- 
ments ; this being among them the most sacred oath that can be taken, the 
violation of which is esteemed most infamous, and deserving of severe 
punishment from Heaven. When they treat of war, the wliole pipe and all 
its ornaments are red ; sometimes it is only red on one side, and by the 
disposition of the feathers, &c., one acquainted with their customs will 
know at first sight what the nation who presents it intends or desirea. 
Smoking the calumet is also a religious ceremony on some occasions, and 
in all treaties is considered as a witness between the parties, or rather as 
an instrument by which they invoke the sun and moon to witness their 
sincerity, and to be, as it were, a guarantee of the treaty between them. 
This custom of the Indians, though to appearance somewhat ridiculous, Ib 
not without its reasons 5 for as they find that smoking tends to disperse 
the vapors of the brain, to raise the spirits, and to qualify them for think- 
ing and judging properly, they introduced it into their councils, where, af- 
ter their resolves, the pipe was considered as a seal of their decrees, and 
as a pledge of their performance thereof, it was sent to those they were 
consulting, in alliance or treaty with ; so that smoking among them at the 
same pipe, is equivalent to our drinking together, and out of the same cup. 
— Major Ro^ers^s Account ofJVort/i America, 1766. 

The lighted calumet is also used among them for a purpose still more in- 
teresting than tlie expression of social friendship. The austere manners 
of the Int ians forbid any appearance of gallantry between the sexes in 
day time ; but at night the young lover goes a calumeting, as his courtship 
is called. As these people live in a state of equality, and without fear of 
internal violence or theft in their own tribes, they leave their doors open 
by night as well as by day. The lover takes advantage of this liberty, 
lights his calumet, entsrs the cabin of his mistress, and gently presents it 
to her. If she extinguishes it, she admits his addresses ; but if she suffer 
it to burn unnoticed, he retires with a disappointed and throbbing heart. — 
Ashe^s Travels. 

Stanza 23, 1. 6. 
Trained from his trce-rock^d cradle to his bier. 
An Indian child, as soon as he is born, is swathed with clothes, or skins ; 
and being laid upon his back, is bound down on a piece of thick board, 
spread over with soft moss. The board is somewhat larger and broader 
than the child, and bent pieces of wood, like pieces of hoops, are placed 
over its face to protect it, so that if the machine were suffered to fall, the 
child probably would not be injured. When the women have any busi- 
ness to transact at home, they hang the board on a tree, if there be one at 

33 



374 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

hand, and set them a-swinging from side to side, like a pendulum, in or- 
der to exercise the children. — JVeld, vol. ii. p. 246. 

STA^FZA 23, 1. 7. 

The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook 
impassive 

Of the active as well as passive fortitude of the Indian character, the 
following is an instance related by Adair, in his Travels :— 

A party of the Seneca Indians came to war against the Katahba, bitter 
enemies to each other. In the woods the former discovered a sprightly 
warrior belonging to the latter, hunting in their usual light dress : on hia 
perceiving them, he sprang off for a hollow rock four or five miles distant, 
as they intercepted him from running homeward. He was so extremely 
swift and skilful with the gun, as to kill seven of them in the running 
fight, before they were able to surround and take him. They carried him 
to their country in sad triumph ; but though he had filled them with un- 
common grief and shame for the loss of so many of their kindred, yet the 
love of martial virtue induced them to treat him during their long journey, 
with a great deal more civility than if he liad acted the part of a coward. 
The women and children, when they met him at their several towns, beat 
him and whipped him in as severe a manner as the occasion required, ac- 
cording to their law of justice, and at last he was condemned to die by the 
fiery torture. It might reasonably be imagined that what he had fur some 
time gone through, by being fed with a scanty hand, a tedious march, lying 
at night on the bare ground, exposed to the changes of the weather, with 
his arms and legs extended in a pair of rough stocks, and suffering such 
punishment on his entering into their hostile towns, as a prelude to those 
sharp torments for which he was destined, would have so impaired his 
health and affected his imagination, as to have sent him to his long sleep, 
out of the way of any more sufferings. — Probably this would have been 
the case with the major part of white people under similar circumstances ; 
but I never knew this with any of the Indians; and this cool-headed, 
brave warrior, did not deviate from their rough lessons of martial virtue, 
but he acted his part so well as to surprise and sorely vex his numerous 
enemies : — for when they were taking him, unpinioned, in their wild pa- 
rade, to the place of torture, which lay near to a river, he suddenly dash- 
ed down those who stood in his way, sprang off, and plunged into the 
Waters, swimming underneath like an otter, only rising to take breath, 
till he reached the opposite shore. He now ascended the steep bank, but 
though he had good reason to be in a hurry, as many of the enemy 
were in the water, and others running very like bloodhounds, in pursuit 
of him, and the bullets flying around him from the time he took to the riv- 
er, yet his heart did not allow him to leave them abruptly, without taking 
leave in a formal manner, in return for the extraordinary favors they had 
done, and intended to do him. After slapping a part of his body, in de- 



NOTES TO PART I. 375 

fiance to them, (continues the author,) he put up the shrill warhoop, as 
his last salute, till some more convenient opportunity offered, and darted 
off in the manner of a beast broke loose from its torturing enemies. He 
continued his speed, iO as to run by about midnight of the same day as far 
as his eager pursuers were two days in reaching. There he rested till he 
happily discovered five of those Indians who had pursued him : — he lay 
hid a little way off their camp, till they were sound asleep. Every cir- 
cumstance of his situation occurred to him, and inspired him with hercv 
ism. He was naked, torn, and hungry, and his enraged enemies were 
come up with him ; but there was now every thing to relieve his w.ant8, 
and a fair opportunity to save his life, and get great honor and sweet re- 
venge, by cutting them off. Resolution, a convenient spot, and suddea 
surprise, would effect the main object of all his wishes and hopes. He 
accordingly creeped, took one of theii tomahawks, and killed them all on 
the spot, — clothed himself, took a choice gun, and as much ammunitioa 
and provisions as he could well carry in a running march. He set off 
afresh with a light heart, and did not sleep for several successive nights, 
only when he reclined as usual, a little before day, with his back to a tree. 
As it were by instinct, when he found he was free from the pursuing ene- 
my, he made directly to the very place where he had killed seven of his 
enemies, and was taken by them for the fiery torture. He digged them up, 
burned their bodies to ashes, and went home in triumph. Other pursuing 
enemies came, on the evening of the second day. to the camp of their 
dead people, when the sight gave them a greater shock than they had ever 
known before. In their chilled war-council they concluded, that as he 
had done such surprising things in his defence before he was captivated, 
and since that in his naked condition, and now was well-armed, if they 
continued the pursuit he would spoil them all, for surely he was an ene- 
my wizard, and therefore they returned home. — Jidair^s General Observa- 
tions on the American Indians, p. 394. 

It is surprising, says the same author, to see the long continued speed of 
the Indians. Though some of us have often run the swiftest of them out 
of sight for about the distance of twelve miles, yet afterward, without 
any seeming toil, they would stretch on, leave us out of sight, and out- 
wind any horse. — Ibid. p. 318. 

If an Indian were driven out into the extensive woods, with only a 
knife and a tomahawk, or a small hatchet, it is not to be doubted but he 
would fatten even where a wolf would starve. He would soon collect 
fire by rubbing two dry pieces of wood together, make a bark hut, earth- 
en vessels, and a bow and arrows; then kill wild game, fish, fresh-water 
tortoises, gather a plentiful variety of vegetables, and live in affluence,— 
Ibid. p. 410. 

Stanza 24, 1.7. 
Mocasins is a sort of Indian buskins. 



376 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING, 

SlANZA 25, 1. 1* 

Sleep, wearied one .' and in the dreaming' land 
Shouldst thou to-morrow with thy mother meet. 

There is nothing (says Charlevoix) in which these barbarians carry tfiefr 
superstitions further, than in what regards dreams : but they vary greatly 
in their manner of explaining themselves on this point. Sometimes it is 
the reasonable soul which ranges abroad, while the sensitive continues to 
animate the body. Sometimes it is the familiar genius who gives salutary 
counsel with respect to what is going to liuppen. Sometimes it is a visit 
made by the soul of the object of which he dreams. But in whatever 
manner the dream is conceived it is always looked upon as a thing sacred, 
and as the most ordinary way in which the gods make known their will 
to men. Filled with this idea, they cannot conceive how we should pay 
no regard to them. For the most part they look upon them either as a de- 
sire of the soul, inspired by some genius, or an order from him, and in con- 
sequence of this principle they hold it a religious duty to obey them. An 
Indian having dreamt of having a finger cut off, had it really cut off as 
soon as he awoke, h iving first prepared himself for this important action 
by a fdast. Another having dreamt of being a prisoner, and in the hands 
of his enemies, was much at a loss what to do. He consulted the jug- 
glers, and by their advice caused himself to be tied to a post, and burnt in 
several parts of the body. — Charlevoix^ Journal of a Voyage to JVorth 
^merica^ 

Stanza 2G, I. 5. 
The crocodile, the condor of the rock — 
The alligator, or American crocodile, when full grown, (says Bertram,) 
is a very large and terrible creature, and of prodigious strength, activity, 
and swiftness in the water. I have seen them twenty feet in length, and 
some are supposed to be twenty-two or twenty-three feet in length. Their 
body is as large as that of a horse, their shape usually resembles that of a 
lizard, which is flat, or cuneiform, being compressed on each side, and 
gradually diminishing from the abdomen to the extremity, which, with 
the whole body, is covered with horny plates of squamse, impenetrable 
when on the body of the live animal, even to a rifle-ball, except about 
their head, and just behind their fore-legs or arms, where, it is said, they 
are only vulnerable. The head of a full grown one is about three feet, and 
the mouth opens nearly the same length. Their eyes are small in propor- 
tion, and seem sunk in the head, by means of the prominency of the 
brows; the nostrils are large, inflated, and prominent on the top, so that 
the head on the water resembles at a distance, a great chunk of wood 
floating about : only the upper jaw moves, which they raise almost per- 
pendicular, so as to form a right angle with the lower one. In the fore- 
part of the upper jaw, on each side, just under the nostrils, are two very 
large, thick, strong teeth, or tusks, not very sharp, but rather the shape of 



NOTES TO PART I. 



377 



a cone ; these are as white as the finest polished ivory, and are not cover- 
ed by any skin or lips, but always insight, which gives the creature a 
frightful appearance ; in the lower jaw are holes opposite to these teeth to 
receive them ; when they clap their jaws together, it causes a surprising 
noise, like that which is made by forcing a heavy plank with violence 
upon the ground, and may be heard at a great distance. But what is yet 
more surprising to a stranger, is the incredibly loud and terrifying roar 
which they are capable of making, especially in breeding-time. It most 
resembles very heavy distant thunder, not only shaking the air and wa- 
ters, but causing the earth to tremble ; and when hundreds are roaring at 
the same time, you can scarcely be persuaded but that the whole globe is 
violently and dangerously agitated. An old champion, who is, perhaps, 
absolute sovereign of a little lake or lagoon, (when fifty less than himself 
are obliged to content themselves with swelling and roaring in little coves 
round about,) darts forth from the reedy coverts, all at once, on the sur- 
face of the waters in a right line, at first seemingly as rapid as lightning, 
but gradually more slowly, until he arrives at the centre of the lake, 
where he stops. He now swells himself by drawing in wind and water 
through his mouth, which causes a loud sonorous rattling in the throat 
for near a minute ; but it is immediately forced out again through his 
mouth and nostrils with a loud noise, brandishing his tail in the air, and 
the vapor running from his nostrils like smoke. At other times, when 
swoln to an extent ready to burst, his head and tail lifted up, he spins or 
twirls round on the surface of the water. He acts his part like an Indian 
chief, when rehearsing his feats of war. — Bcrtram^s Travels in J^orth, 
America. 

Stanza 27, 1. 4. 

Then forth uprose that lone wayfaring man. 
They discover an amazing sagacity, and acquire, with the greatest 
readiness, anything that depends upon the attention of the mind. By ex- 
perience, and an acute observation, they attain many perfections to which 
Americans are stiangers. For instance, they will cross a forest or a plain, 
which is two hundred miles in breadth, so as to reacJi, with great exact- 
ness, the point at which they intend to arrive, keeping, during the whole 
of that space, in a direct line, without any material deviations ; and this 
they will do with the same ease, let the weather be fair or cloudy. With 
equal acuteness they will point to that part of the heavens the sun is in, 
though it be intercepted by clouds or fogs. Besides this, they are able to 
pursue, with incredible facility, the traces of man or beast, either on 
leaves or grass ; and on this account it is with great difliculty they escape 
discovery. They are indebted for these talents, not only to nature, but to 
an extraordinary command of the intellectual qualities, which can only 
be acquired by an unremitted attention, and by long experience. 
They are, in general, very happy in a retentive memory. They can 
recapitulate every particular that has been treated of in council, and 

33* 



378 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



remember the exact time when they were held. Their belts of wampum 
preserve the substance of the treaties they have concluded with the 
neighboring tribes for ages back, to which they will appeal and refer with 
as much perspicuity and readiness as Europeans can to their written re- 
cords. 

The Indians are totally unskilled in geography, as well as all the other 
sciences, and yet they draw on their birch-bark very exact charts or maps 
of the countries they are acquainted with. The latitude and longitude 
only are wanting to make them tolerably complete. 

Their sole knowledge in astronomy consists in being able to point out 
the polar star, by which they regulate their course when they travel in the 
night. 

They reckon the distance of places, not by miles or leagues, but by a 
day's journey which, according to the best calculation I could make, ap- 
pears to be about twenty English miles. These they also divide into 
halves and quarters, and will demonstrate them in their maps with great 
exactness by the hieroglyphics just mentioned, when they regulate in 
council their war parties or their most distant hunting excursions. — Lewis 
and darkens Travels. 

Some of the French missionaries have supposed that the Indians are 
guided by instinct, and have pretended that Indian children can find their 
way through a forest as easily as a person of maturer years ; but this is a 
most absurd notion. It is unquestionably by a close .ittention to the 
growth of the trees, and position of the sun, that they find their way. On 
the northern side of a tree there is generally the most moss ; and the bark 
on t! at side, in general, differs from that on the opposite one. The 
branches towards the south are, for the most part, more luxuriant than 
those on the other sides of trees and several other distinctions also subsist 
between the northern and southern sides, conspicuous to Indians, being 
taught from their infancy to attend to them, which a common observer 
would, perhaps, never notice. Being accustomed from their infancy 
likewise to pay great attention to the position of the sun, they learn to 
make the most accurate allowance for its apparent motion from one part of 
the heavens to another 3 and in every part of the day they will point to 
the part of the heavens where it is, although the sky be obscured by clouds 
or mists. 

An instance of their dexterity in finding their way through an unknown 
country came under my observation when I was at Staunton, situated be- 
hind the Blue Mountains, Virginia. A number of the Creek nation had 
arrived at that town on their way to Philadelphia, whither they were go- 
ing upon some affairs of importance, and had stopi)ed there for the night. 
In the morning, some circumstance or other which could not be learned, 
induced one half of the Indians to set off without their companions, who 
did not follow until some hours afterward. When these last were ready 
to pursue their journey, several of the towns-people mounted their horses 
lo escort them part of the way. They proceeded along the highroad some 



NOTES TO PART I. 379 

miles, but, all at once, hastily turning aside into the woods, though there 
was no path, the Indians advanced confidently forward. The people who 
accompanied them, surprised at this movement, informed them that they 
were quitting the road to Philadelphia, and expressed their fear lest they 
should miss their companions who had gone on before. They answered 
that they knew better, that the way through the woods was the shortest 
to Philadelpliia, and that they knew very well that their companions had 
entered the wood at the very place where they did. Curiosity led some of 
the horsemen to go on ; and to their astonishment, for there was appa- 
rently no track, they overtook the other Indians in the thickest part of the 
wood. But what appeared most singular was, that the route which 
they took was found, on examining a map, to be as direct for Philadelphia 
as if they had taken the bearings by a mariner's compass. From others of 
their nation who had been at Philadelphia at a former period, they had 
probably learned the exact direction of tJ)at city from their villages, and 
had never lost sight of it, although they had already travelled three hun- 
dred miles through the woods, and had upwards of four hundred miles 
more to go before they could reach the place of their destination. — Of the 
exactness with which they can find out a strange place to which they 
have been once directed by their own people, a striking example is fur- 
nished, I think, by Mr. Jefferson, in his account of the Indian graves in 
Virginia. These graves are nothing more than large mounds of earth in 
ihe woods, which on being opened, are found to contain skeletons in an 
erect posture: the Indian mode of sepulture has been too often described 
to remain unknown to you. But to come to my story. A party of Indi- 
ans that were passing on to some of the seaports on the Atlantic, just as 
the Creeks, above mentioned, were going to Philadelphia, were observed, 
all on a sudden, to quit the straight road by which they were proceeding, 
and without asking any questions, to strike through the woods, in a direct 
line, to one of these graves, which lay at the distance of some miles from 
the road. Now very near a century must have passed over since the part 
of the Virginia in which this grave was situated, had been inhabited by 
Indians, and these Indian travellers, who were to visit it by themselves, 
had unquestionably never been in that part of the country before ; they 
must have found their way to it simply from the description of its situa- 
tion, that had been handed down to them by tradition. — WeWs Travels in 
J^orth America, vol. ii. 



NOTES 
TO GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

PART III. 



Stanza 16, 1. 4. 
The Mammoth comes. 

That I am justified in making the Indian chief allude to the mammoth 
as an emblem of tenor and destruction, will be seen by the authority 
quoted below. Speaking of the mammoth or big buffalo, Mr. Jefferson 
states, that a tradition is preserved among the Indians of that animal still 
existing in the northern parts of America. 

" A delegation of warriors from the Delaware tribe having visited the 
governor of Virginia during the revolution, on matters of business, the gov- 
ernor !isked them some questions relative to their countr)', and among 
others, what they knew or had heard of the animal whose bones were 
found at the Saltlicks, on the Ohio. Their chief speaker immediately put 
himself into an attitude of oratory, and with a pomp suited to what he 
conceived the elevation of his subject, informed him, that it was a tradi- 
tion lianded down from their fathers, that in ancient times a herd of these 
tremendous animals came to the Big-bone-licks, and began a universal 
destruction of the bear, deer, elk, buffalo, and other animals which had 
been created for the use of the Indians. That the Great Man above look- 
ing down and seeing this, was so enraged, that he seized his lightning, 
descended on the earth, seated himself on a neighboring mountain on a 
rock, of which his seat and the prints of his feet are still to be seen, and 
hurled his bolts among them, till the whole were slaughtered, except the 
big bull, who, presenting his forehead to the shafts, shook them off as they 
fell, but missing one, at length it wounded him in the side, whereon, 
springing round, he bounded over the Ohio, over the Wabash, the Illinois, 
and finally over the great lakes, where he is living at this day." — Jcffcr- 
son^s JVotes on Virginia. 



NOTES TO PART III. 381 

Stanza. 17, 1. 1. 

Scorjiing to wield the hatchet for his bribe, 
'Oainst Brant himself I went to battle forth. 

I took the character of Brant in the poem of Gertrude, from the com- 
mon Histories of England, all of which represented him as a bloody and 
bad man, (even among savages,) and chief agent in the horrible desola- 
tion of Wyoming. Some years after this poem appeared, the son of Brant, 
a most interesting and intelligent youth, came over to England, and I 
formed an acquaintance with him, on which I still look back with pleas- 
ure. He appealed to my sense of honor and justice, on his own part and 
on that of his sister, to retract the unfair aspersions which unconscious of 
its unfairness, I had cast on his father's memory. 

He then referred me to documents which completely satisfied me that 
the common accounts of Brant's cruelties at Wyoming, which I had found 
in books of Travels, and in Adolplius's and similar Histories of England 
were gross errors, and that, in point of fact, Brant was not even present 
at that scene of desolation, 

It is, unhappily, to Britons and Anglo-Americans that we must refer the 
chief blame in this horrible business. I published a letter expressing thia 
belief in the JVcw Monthly Magazine, in the year 1822, to which I must re- 
fer the reader— if he has any curiosity on the subject — for an antidote to 
my fanciful description of Brant. Among other expressions to young 
Brant, I made use of the following words: " Had Ilearntall this of your 
father when I was writing my poem, he should not have figured in it as 
the hero of mischief." It was but bare justice to say thus much of a Mo- 
hawk Indian, who spoke English fluently, and was thought capable of 
having written a history of the Six Nations. I ascertained also that he 
often strove to mitigate the cruelty of Indian warfare. The name of 
Brant, therefore, remains in my poem a pure and declared character of 
fiction. 

Stanza 17, I. 8 and 9. 
To tchom nor relative nor blood remains^ 
JV<?, not a kindred drop that runs in human veins. 

Every one who recollects the specimen of Indian eloquence given in the 
speech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to the Governor of Virginia, will per^r 
ceivethat I have attempted to paraphrase its concluding and most striking 
expressions ; — " There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any 
living creature." The similar salutation of the fictitious personage in 
mystery, and the real Indian orator, makes it surely allowable to borrow 
such an expression ; and if it appears, as it cannot but appear, to less ad- 
vantage than in the original, I beg the reader to reflect how difficult it is 
to transpose suCh exquisitely simple words without sacrificing a portion of 
their efi'ect. 



382 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

In the spring of 1774, a robbery and murder were committed on an in- 
habitant of the frontiers of Virginia, by two Indians of the Shawanee 
tribe. The neighboring whites, according to their custom, undertook to 
punish this outrage in a summary manner. Colonel Cresap, a man infa- 
mous for the many murders he had committed on those much injured peo- 
ple, collected a party and proceeded down tlie Kanaway in quest of ven- 
geance ; unfortunately, a canoe with women and children, with one man 
only, was seen coming from the opposite shore, unarmed, and unsuspect- 
ing an attack from the whites. Cresap and his party concealed themselves 
on the bank of the river, and the moment the canoe reached the shore, 
singled out their objects, and at one fire killed every person in it. This 
happened to be the family of Logan, who had long been distinguished as a 
friend to the whites. This unworthy return provoked his vengeance ; he 
accordingly signalized himself in the war which ensued. In the autumn 
of the same year a decisive battle was fought at the mouth of the great 
Kanaway, in which the collected forces of the Shawanese, Mingoes, and 
Delawares, were defeated by a detachment of the Virginia militia. The 
Indians sued for peace. Logan, however, disdained to be seen among the 
supplicants ; but lest the sincerity of a treaty should be disturbed, from 
which so distinguished a chief abstracted himself, he sent by a messenger 
the following speech to be delivered to Lord Dunmore : — 

" I appeal to any white man if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, 
and he gave him not to eat ; if he ever came cold and naked, and be 
clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Lo- 
gan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love 
for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, Lo- 
gan is the friend of white men. 1 have even thought to have lived with 
you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in 
cold blood, murdered all the relations of Logan, even my women and 
children. 

" There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature : 
— this called on me for revenge. I have fought for it. I have killed 
many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at 
the beams of peace :— but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of 
fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. 
Who is there to mourn for Logan .'' not one!" — Jeffcrson^s J^otes on Vir- 
ginia, 



COPY OF THE DEED OF PURCHASE, 



REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING WORK. 



To all People to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting ; Know 
yc that we Ka-hick-to-ton, Abraham Pieters, Willem Tharigjoris (Brant 
Cauwignoge) (Henderick Pieters Tejanoge) (Canageogaije Set I-ta-va-rie) 
(Johans So-ge-howane) (Johani Canadegaie) (Nikes Carigiagtadie) 
(Conaggnause) (Johanes Signagerat) Cores-tago Senosses A-gwe-iota. — 

Being Chief Sacliems and Heads of the five Nations of Indians called 
the Irequois and the Native Proprietors of a large Tract of Land on, about, 
and adjacent to the River Susquehannah, between the forty-first and 
forty-third Degrees of North Latitude, and being within the Limits and 
Bounds of tlie Charter and Grant of his late Majesty King Charles the 
Second to the Colony of Connecticut — and 

Whereas a large Number of the leige and good Subjects of his Royal 
Majesty George 2nd of Great Britain, &.C., King, inhabitants of his Said 
Majesty's English Colony of Connecticut, &c., to the Number of about Six 
Hundred have applyed to us for the Purchase of said above mentioned 
Tract of Land, for a Plantation to settle upon. 

Thereupon Whereas a constant and cordial Friendship from the time of 
our Progenitors and Predecessors to this Day hath always been subsisting 
between us and our Brethren the English Subjects of this Said Majesty 
King George, and of his Royal Predecessors, Kings and Queens of Great 
Britain, and the Continuation of which we heartily desire. And Whereas, 
the Enabling and Incouraging our Said English Brethren to Plant and 
Settle in a nearer Neighbourhood to us than heretofore, may greatly con- 
tribute to our safety and Defense against the unjust Encroachments and 
Insults of French and Indians in Alliance with them, and to the Benefitt 
and Increase of our Trade, and also may be very conducive to our obtain- 
ing a more full and clear Knowledge of the true God and the Christian Re- 
ligon and thereby Fix and Establish a more firm Solid and lasting Friend- 
ship with his said Majesties English Subjects. 

Now Thereupon for and in Consideration of the Sum of Two Thousand 
Pounds of Current Money of the Province of New York to us, to our full 
satisfaction, before the Ensealing hereof Contented and Paid, the Receipt 
whereof to full content we do hereby Acknowledge, and thereupon do 
Give, Grant, Bargain, Sell, Convey And Confirm 



3S4 



DEED OF WYOMING, 
UJ^TO 



Hez. Huntington, Esq. 
Roger Wolcott, Jr. Esq, 
Col. Elisha Williams 
Phineas Lyman, Esq. 
Daniel Edwards, Esq. 
Col. Samuel Talcott 
George Wyllys, Esq. 
Thos. Wells, Esq. 
EMphalet Dyer, Esq. 
Jabez Fitch, Esq. 
John Smith, Esq. 
Ezekiel Pierce, Esq. 
Thos. Saymore 
Wm. Pitkin, Jun. Esq. 
Eleazar Fitch, Esq. 
John Fitch 
Samuel Grey, Esq. 
Jedediah Elderkin 
John Abbe 
William Andrews 
Moses Barnett 
John Backus 
Noah Briggs 
Caleb Bates 
Jonathan Baker 
Nehemiah Barker 
Ezra Belding 
Wm. Buck 
Jehial Barnam 
Gideon Bingham 
Robert Crery, Jun. 
Benjaman Crery 
Christopher Crery 
Abijah Crery 
Giles Chirchel 
Barnet Dixon 
David Downing 
John Dixon 
John Dorrance 
James Dixon 
Nathaniel Daniels 
Samuel Dorrance 
Richard Downer 



Josiah Dean, Jun. 
Asa Douglass 
Gideon Demoring 
Jos. Eaton 
Josh. Elderkin 
Edward Ewings 
Ellas Frink 
Elijah Frances 
John Gaston 
John Grosvenof 
Eben. Grosvenor 
Stephen Gardner 
Stephen Gardner, Jun. 
Jonathan Gardner 
David Griswold 
Elijah Griswold 
Robert Hunter 
John Hunter 
Henry Hewett 
John Howard 
Sarah Huntington 
Stephen Hardon 
John Hough 
Josiah Horsford 
Daniel Horsford 
John Judd 
Wm. Jackson 
John Jenkes 
Joseph Kyle 
Archibald Casson 
Samuel Casson 
Adam Kason 
Jeremiah Kenny 
Moses Kenny 
Gideon Kenny 
Nathan Kenny 
John Kenny 
Spencer Kenny 
John Kagwin 
Hugh Kennady, Jun. 
Thomas Kennady, Jun. 
Seth Kent 
James Kasson 



John Leavina 
EbeneZer Larnard 
Stephen Lee 
Isaac Lee 
Edward Mott 
James Montgomery 
John Montgomery 
Gaun Miller 
Samuel McFarland 
John Montgomery, Jun. 
Joseph Moffitt 
Manassah Minor 
'J'homas Mansfield 
John Maning, Jun . 
Josiah Orcutt 
Wm. Parkes 
Mathew Patrick 
Jacob Patrick 
Joseph Phillips 
Benj. Pierce, Jun. 
Robert Parkes 
Nathan Parkes 
Jeremiah Ross 
Stephen Rodes 
Obediah Rodes 
Noah Stantly 
John Stantly 
Tim. Stantly 
Thomas Snell 
Lemuel Smith 
John Stephens 
Isaac Shepard 
Jesse Spaldwen 
Thomas Stewart 
John Streater 
Nehemiah Stephens 
Andrew Stephens 
Benj. Stephens 
Solomon Stoddard 
Ebenezer Smith, Jun. 
Eben Smith 
Uriah Stephens 
Joseph Smith, Jun- 



DEED OF WYOMING. 



395 



Samuel Silsby 
Simon Tubbs 
Jos. Taylor 
Philip Turner 
Lemuel Taylor 
Judah Wright 
Eliphalet Whittlesey 
Jos. Watden 
David Waters 
Isaac Warner 
Wm. Williams 
•John Wiley, Jun. 
Thos. Wiley 
Hugh Wiley 
James Wiley 
Eben. Wright 
Isaac Woodwarth 
Wm. Whiting 
Wm. Churchill 
Josiah Curtice 
Nathan Booth 
Ichabod Welles 
Phineas Judd 
Stephen Skinner 
Wm. Fitch 
James Bradford 
Matthew Patrick, Jun. 
Nathaniel Wales, Jun. 
Nathaniel Hovey 
Prince Tracy 
Noah Gilbert 
Daniel Knovvlton 
W^illiam Huston 
Moses Fish 
John Johnson, Jun. 
Wm. Chandler, Esq. 
Nathaniel Warner 
Gershom Durrance 
Thomas Pierce 
Samuel Chandler, Esq 
Nathaniel Berry 
Nathaniel Wales, Esq. 
Zebediah Farrum 
Daniel Stoughton 
Jonas Shephard 
Matthew Tolcutt 



Joseph Church 
Ezekiel Williams 
John Humphry, Esq. 
Roger Hooker 
Alexander Walcott 
Samuel Talcott 
Thos. Hosmore, Esq. 
Jonathan Hale, Esq. 
Abner IMoseley 
Peletiah Mills 
Daniel Goodwin 
Jonathan Humphry 
Jonathan Pettibone 
Andrew Robe 
David Phelpes 
Hezekiah Humphry 
Hezekiah Phelpes 
John Veites 
Joseph Welles 
Timothy Seymote 
Russell Woodbridge 
Wm. Stantly 
Samuel Welles 
John Wait 
Benjamin Caldwell 
Alexander Gaston 
Rowland Burton 
Alexander Phelpes 
Niles Colman 
David Barker 
Benj. Pumroy 
John Fitch, Jun. 
Joseph Warren 
Seth Dean 
Samuel Hunten 
Noah Webster 
Thomas Howard 
Zebulon Warterman 
Eben. Leach 
Penuel Bo wen 
Israel Dimock 
Abiel Abbott 
Thomas Stedman 
James Stedman 
Eben. Griffin 
Thomas Stephens 

34 



Thomas Stephens, Jun. 
Benj. Lee 
Stephen Fuller 
Paul Holt 
Benj. Collings 
James Wilson 
James Douglass 
John Campbell 
Hugh Wyley, Jun. 
Benj. Parke 
Bartholemew Arthur 
Thos. Jones 
Joseph Taylor 
John Read 
Wm. Swetland 
Pdter Swetland 
Jonathan Harriss 
ElishaScovil 
Eben. Williams ^ 
AbelGriswold 
Stephen Jenkins 
David Deway 
Gershom Breed 
John Newton 
John Grant 
Ephraim Gardner 
Gershom Hinkley 
Joshua Ransome 
Miles Gordon 
Isaac Tracey 
James Hide 
Asa Waterman 
John Baldvven 
Elijah Backus 
Phinehas Holden 
Christopher Palmer 
Thomas Anderson 
Allen Willey 
John Rothbone 
Daniel Ely 
David Dodge, Jun. 
Eben. Watson 
Sam. Stoughton 
Sam. Welles, Jun. 
Isaac Sheldon 
Eben. Beacher 



386 



DEED OF WYOMING,* 



Oliver Wolcott 
Elijah Sheldon 
Eben. Marsh, Esq. 
Sam. Cockrin 
Benj. Green 
Ephraim Andrews 
Daniel Turner 
George Palmer 
Capt. Uriah Stephens 
Samuel Orton 
Jacob Hensdel 
Thos. Williams 
Zebulon Stephens 
Thos. Watson 
Jog. Bird, Esq. 
John Holmes 
John Dean 

Increase Mosely, Esq. 
John Hutchinson, Esq. 
Eben, Fletcher 
Joshua Whitney 
Sam. Slaughter 
Robert Hannis 
Noah Stephens 
David Whitney, Esq. 
Jedediah Stephens 
Jonathan Smith 
Thos. Parmely 
Oliver Sanford 
Azeriah Orton 
Josiah Everit 
Francis Everit 
Josiah Everit 
Timothy Rose 
Timothy Everit 
Silas Storey 
Hezekiah Hooker 
Jedediah Richards 
Peter Granson 
Richard Reat 
Eben. Gransan 
Daniel Berry 
John Franklin 
Robert Walker 
Edward Spaldwen 
Josiah Clea viand 



Samuel Lee 
Elier Andrews 
William Phellows 
Seth Norton 
Levi Watson 
Eliphalet Ensign 
Lemuel Orten 
Eleizer Gooden 
Daniel Wilcoxg 
Sam. Gooden 
Turbal Whitney 
James Bird 
Thomas Bird 
John Miner 
Joseph Allen 
James Dunham 
Robert Wincott 
Thos. Stephens 
Joshua Rothbone 
Jonathan Rothbone 
Elijah Dean 
John Read 
Edward Waldow 
Jacob Rothbone 
Isaac Gallop 
Jonathan Wealder 
Daniel Rothbone 
Daniel Miner 
Valentine Rothbone 
Auger Judson 
Zacharlah Clark 
Peter Curtice 
James Levingworth 
Jedediah Mills 
Sam. Defouest 
Elisha Mills 
Francis Hawley 
Edmund Lewis, Jun. 
Daniel Hide 
Josiah Lewis, Jun. 
John Laboree 
Ephraim Judson 
John French 
Jabez Sommers 
Josiah Robingson 
Nathaniel Baker 



Joseph Arnold 
Benj. Thompson 
Daniel Morriss 
John Andrews 
Benj. Rhamsey, Jun. 
Josiah Wakeman 
Daniel Sherwood 
Cornelius Hull 
Stephen Wakeman, Jun< 
Thomas Couch 
Josiah Beardsely 
Ephraim Bennet 
Matthew Curtice 
Jonathan Booth 
Caleb Baldwen 
Jonathan Willard 
Doctor Moffitt 
Thomas Stantly 
Joshua Wylls 
Joseph Hubbart 
Isaac Sayer 
Samuel Flag 
Daniel Lothrop 
John Elderkin 
Stephen Beckwith 
Jeremiah Clements 
Samuel Gore 
Benjamin Gale 
William Whitney 
Barsiliai Handel 
Isaac Lawrance 
Joseph Palnieter 
Malachi Butler 
Joseph Toleate 
John Spencer, Jun. 
Elijah Hide 
Nathaniel Cushman 
Caleb Hide 
Obediah Newcomb 
Joseph Bingham, Jun. 
JoJin Strong 
Noah Dewey 
Joseph Skiff- 
Jonathan Hale 
Jabez Dean 
Joseph Weight 



DEED OF WYOMING. 



387 



Obediah Gore 
Abel Clarke 
Seth Smith 
John Rirchard, 3d, 
Joseph Dennison, Esq. 
Samuel Tracy 
Ephraim Bill 
Herliart Pride 
Thomas Welles 
Thos. Fish 
Thomas Branch, Jun. 
Benjamin Wentworth 
Simon Huntington 
Isaac Tracy, Jun. 
John Wood 
Oliver Spicer 
Benjamin Giles 
Thomas Giles 
Jonathan GennJngs 
Simon Backus 
Ebenezer Grover, Jun. 
Joseph Billings, Jun. 
Robert Kenady 
John Williams 
Daniel Lathan 
John Choate 



Jacob Kimball 
Thomas Bolea 
Elisha Tracy 
Joseph Tracy, Jun. 
Is.aac Saben 
William Lothrop 
Daniel Rockwell 
Benedick Arnold 
Nathaniel Parkea 
George Danniss 
Rachel JVlilner 
John Edgerton 
Samuel Walworth 
Christopher Storke 
Thomas Walworth 
Stephen Billings 
Jonathan Stricklin 
John Bliss 
Samuel Hunn 
Seth Alden 
John Burchard 
Robert Boyington 
Macock Ward 
Jacob Drake, Jun. 
Ashbel Woodbridge 



Silas Wells 
John Well a 
Samuel Barns 
Constant Catlla 
John Hanford 
Jedediah Norton 
Elisha Hale 
Jacob Drake 
Ashael Drake 
Barnabas Hatch 
Josiah Cowls 
John Webster 
John Cooke 
Reubin Swift 
Isaac Mosley 
Jonathan Landon 
John Patterson 
Nathan Pason 
Oliver Badcock 
Solomon Grant 
Benjamin Newcomb 
Joseph Lippit 
Samuel How 
Walter Hewit 
Henry Stephens 



Eleizer Talcott 
All of ye aforesaid Colony of Connecticut in New England 

AND TO 
Samuel Dorrance 
Michael Dorrance 
Elnathan Walker 
Amos Stafford, Jui). 
Simeon Draper 
Thomas Mattison 
Daniel Lawrence 
Amos Stafford 
Samuel Drown 
John Bucklin 
Thomas Burt 

Of the Colony of Rhode Island, in New England, aforesaid 

AND TO 
Daniel Shoemaker John Adkins, Esq, 

Benjamin Shoemaker Samuel Depew, Esq, 
Joseph Skinner John Panather, Esq. 

Abram Fencumps, Esq. 
All of the Government of Pennsylvania: 



Jabez Bowen, Esq. 
Jonathan Randale,Esq. 
Rob. Randale, Esq. 
Jonathan Nicolls 
Robert Hazzard 
Benjamin Bowen 
Francis Colgrove 
Martin Howard 
Philip Wilkinson 
Daniel Ayrault 
George Dorrance 



Jonathan Moray 
Charles Harris 
William Sheldon 
Eliakam Walker 
Richard Cbarnton 
Beriah Brown 
John Reynolds 
John Reynolds, Jun* 
Jonathan Reynolds 
Benjamin Sheffield 
Jonathan Hamilton 



Daniel Henshaw 
Aaron Depew 
Solomon Genninga 



388 



DEED OF WYOMING. 



AND TO. 

Timothy Woodbridge David King: John Wing, Jun. 

John Wing 
Of the Province of ye Massachusetts Bay : 

AND TO 

Hendrick Burghert,Jun. Jacob Boseboom Jonathan Buck 

Aaron Sheldon Kiliaen De Kidder Baltazar Lydius 

Joseph Woodbridge John Henry Lydius,Esq. John Rosa 

Benjamin Ashby Jeremiah Hogeboom 

Of the Province of New York : 

Being in all iive Hundred and Thirty-four in Number- 
To each and every of the Persons before and above mentioned and 

Named, Two Twelve Hundred and Twenty four parts of the Large Tract 

or. Parcel of Land as hereafter Described and Bounded. 
And we do also for and; upon the Consideration Afore Said, give, grant, 

Bargain, Sell, Convey and Confirm, 

UJ^TO 

[^HEBE BEGINS HALF SHARES.] 



Eliphalet Newel 
Jacob Dana 
John Webb 
Oliver Parish 
Paul Hebard 
Hezekiah Huntington 
Ebeii Bebbens 
Abram Snow 
Eleazar Dones 
Joseph Spaulding 
Curtis Spaulding 
Thomas Brown 
John Eddy 
Judah Hay 
Joseph Alexander 
John Campbell, 3d. 
James Campbell, Jun. 
Jacob Simons 
Jeduthan Simons 
Benjamin Parks 
Henry Arnold 
John Wells 
Jacob Sisco 
Hezekiah Demmon 
Samuel Douglass 
James Morriss 
Samuel Jackson 
Samuel Gordon 



Gideon Baldwin 
Abel Barnes 
Hezekiah Orton 
John Wough 
Thomas Lylly 
Samuel Norton 
Hezekiah Hooker 
Thomas Fellows 
James Hannas 
Joseph Fellows 
Henry Bass 
Benjamin Follit 
Simeon Dean. 
John Steel 
Elisha Steel 
Samuel Church 
Eben Lewis 
Caleb Wheeler 
jehial Bryant 
Cotton Fletcher 
John Fellows 
Samuel Ford 
Job Marsh 
John Pirkens 
Thomas Porter 
Andrew Bacon 
Thomas Day 
David Bredwell 



Gideoni Lawrence 
Jesse Stephens 
Alexander Hinman 
Nathaniel Crandell 
Joshua Birch 
Eli Colton 
Daniel Alden 
Nathaniel Loomis 
Oliver Crery 
Aaron Crery 
George Crery 
William Crery 
Eben Cheney 
John Cogswell 
John Cone 
John Coleburt 
Abraham Harden 
Jonathan Sanger 
Thomas Steel 
Thomas Warner 
Zachariah Bicknale 
John Royce 
Samuel Douglass 
Joshua Dunlap 
Alexander Stewart 
Benajah Bill 
Elias Frink, Jun. 
Joseph Hazen 



DEED OF WYOMING. 



3S9 



Samuel Webb, Jun. 
Seth Wright 
John Larabe 
Nathaniel Hide 
Ephiaim Dean 
Phinehas Lewis 
John Strong 
Hezekiah May 
Thomas Wells 
Josiah Giiswold 
James Lockwood 
Elisha William?, Jun. 
Ezekiel Porter 
Samuel May 
Joseph Webb 
Thomas Belding, Jun 
Samuel Curtice 
John Ha't 
Wm. Wadsworth 
Peter Judson 
Nehemiah Lewis 
Lott Norton 
David Bigilo, Jun. 
John Young 



Jacob Simons, 3d. 
Zebulon Hebard 
Joshua Read 
Gideon Hebard 
Joseph Badcock 
Samuel Bennit 
David Palmer 
Benajah Parks 
Josiah Parks 
Gideon Haskell' 
Jacob Geers 
Benjamin Geers 
John Read, Jun. 
Elnalhan Street 
Constant Caston 
William Manly 
Caleb IMoses 
Mark Levingsworlh 
John Levingsvvorth 
Ezra Stiles 
Jonathan Fitch 
NathanielBarns 
James Case 



Elisha Cornish 
Isaac Pettebone 
Timothy Moses 
Oliver Humphrey 
Jacob Case 
Abel Pettebone 
William Manly, Jun. 
Giles Pettibone 
Abram Pettibone 
John Barker 
John Spencer 
Samuel Hulbert 
Gideon Burr 
Richard Cook 
Seth Loomiss 
Joseph Case 
Jona. Levingsworth 
Thomas Humphries 
Moses Bellamy 
Aaron Bellamy 
John Hagens 
Ephraim Robingson 
John Andrews 
Miles Riggs 



Daniel Bale 

All being of the Colony of Connecticut aforesaid, to the number of one 
Hundred and Thirty-Six Persons ; To each one of the last mentioned pjr- 
sons to the aforesaid number of one Flundred and Thirty-Six ; The one 
Twelve Hundred and Twenty-fourth part of the same Large Tract or 
Parcel of Land aforesaid, of all which afore Named Persons the sum afore- 
said was Received, which Said given and granted Tract of Land i:j Butted, 
Bounded and Described, as Followeth, (Viz.) 

Beginning from the one and fourtyeth Degree of North Latitude at ten 
miles Distance East of Susqutannah River, and from thence with a north- 
wardly line Ten miles East of the River To the 42d or beginning of 
the forty Third Degree North Latitude, and so to extf nd West, Two Decrees 
of Longitude, one hundred and Twenty miles South, lo the Beginning of 
the forty Second Degree, and from thence East to the afore mentioned 
Bound, which is ten Miles East of Susquehannah River, together with all 
and every, the Mines, Minerals or Ore of what kind soever, standing, grow- 
ing, being found or to be found upon any Part, or Parcel thereof, and all 
other the Hereditaments and Appurtenances to the Said Parcel or Tract be- 
longing or in any way appertaining, and the Reversion and Keversions, Re- 
mainder and Remainders, &c. 

To have and to hold all the above Granted and Bargained Premises with 
all the Appurtenances thereof, 

Untj all thj abjve and afore Named Persons, in Wanner and Prpportion 

34* 



390 



DEED OF WYOMING. 



aforesaid, and to their Heirs and Assigns, and to their only proper use, ben- 
efit and behoof forever, as a free, Clparand Absolute Estate of Inheritance, 
in fee simple, free of all incumbrances whatsoever. 

And We the Afore Said, Cahik-to-ton, Abram Pieters, Willem Tarigjo- 
ris, iBrant) Cauwignoge, &c., &c., &:c. Sachems and Chiefs as aforesaid, 
do Hereby covenant to and with all the afore Named grantees, and each 
and every of them, that at and until the Ensealing and Delivering hereof, 
we are the True, sole, and Lawful owners of the above granted Premisses, 
and hav.e good Right, Power, and authority to Bargain and Sell the Same 
in Manner and Farm as above Writen ; and Furthermore, we the above 
Named Cahik-to-ton, Abram Pieters, WilleniTharigjoris, (Brant) Cauwig- 
noge, Sachems and Chiefs as afore said, do by these Presents for us, our 
Heirs and Successors, Covenant and promise to and with all and every of 
the afore Named, Persons, Grantees in this Deed,!iH the above Granted and 
Bargained Premisses and Appurtenances thereof, unto all and every of the 
afore Named Persons, Grantees in this Deed, and to their and every of their 
Heirs and Assigns, .in Manner and Proportion afore said, forever to Warrant, 
Secure, and Defend— in.Witness whereof we have each of us Set our Marks, 
And Affixed our Seals, This Eleventh Day of July, in the Twenty-Eighth 
Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George ye Second of Great Bri- 
tain, &.C. King, Anno Domini one Tl^ousand Seveiv Hundred and fifty-Four. 

Signed Sealed and Delivered in Presence of 



EPH. WILLIAMS, Jr. 
JOSEPH KELLOGG. 



his 
KAHIK-TO-TON, [^ Racoon. ] Chief of ye Senekas. (Seal,) 

mark, 



his 
ABRAHAM [ better A.] PIETERS, (Seal.) 

mark, Sachem of Canajoharie of ye Tribe of ye Bear, 



his 
WILLEM [ Turtle. ] TIIARIGJORIS, [Seal J 

mark^ SoiChem of Cflnajoharit. 



his 
BRANT [ Wol f. ] CAUWIGNOGE, [Seal.]' 

mark. Sachem Mohoks. 



DEED OF WYOMING. 391 



Signed Sealed and Delivered in Presence of 

JAMES SHARPE, 
MARTIN LYNDE. 



his 
[ Bi"a"vi7i ] CANAGEGAIE. [Seal.] 

mark. Oyie of the Sachems of Onondage. 

his 
SET r;^J I-TA-VA-RIE. 

mark. [Seal.] of ye Mohoks ye Turtle. 

his 
JOHANIS [ Letter C ] SOGEHOWANE, 

markK [Seal.] Do. Do. 

his 
SENOSIEN f Turtle. ] 

mark. [Seal.J Onider. 

2iis 
JOIIANIS [xJCANA-DEGAlR, 

mark. [Seal.] Bear, Do.- 

his 
NIKES [ Letter N. ] CARIGIAGTA-TIE, 

mark. [Seal] JVolf Canajoharie. 

Signed Sealed and Delivered in presence of 



SYBRANT VAN SCHACK, Jun. 
JOHANNIS J. WEN1>EL, 

his 
CONAGGJESE [ Turtle. ]' 

mark. (Seal.] 



I 



his |, g. 

JOHANS [ Bear. ]tEGNAGERAT, K g 

mark, [Seal.] [ §. 



his 
OKWEIOLA, [ Turtle. ] 

mark. i;SeaK]( 



t' 

J 



392 EXTRACTS FROM 

his 
[ Weazle. ] CANST AGO. [Seal.] 

mark. 

Hartford ss : ^Oth January, 1755. 
I, John Ledyard, one of his majesties Justices of the Peace for said Coun- 
ty, have Examined and Compared the foregoing Deed with the originall 
and find it lo be a true Copy thereof. 

JOHN LEDYARD. 



[Extracts from the Diary of Sir William Johnson, respecting 
the affairs between the indians and the connecticut pur- 
CHASERS OF THE Wyoming lands.] 

Johnson Hall, Wednesday, February 9th, 1763. 
Onaharissa with two other Onondagas arrived here and acquainted Sir 
William, that the Sachems of their Nation would wait on him in a few. 
days, on authority of a message delivered them from Sir William, lately, 
by some Senecas who had been at his House, which as delivered to them, 
was very alarming, and gave them all the greatest uneasiness. 

4 Strings of Wampum. 

Wednesday, March ^3d, 1763. 
Had a meeting with ye Mohawks and several Senecas from Schenecta- 
dy, at Fort Johnson, when ye Mohawks made claim to ye Lands from ye 
Flatts of Schenectady, t(» a place called Ua-ga-wariuni, alledging it never 
was sold by their Forefathers, but lent by them for a Forage for their 
Cattle. 



While they were in Council, Col. Eliphalet Dyer and Mr. Woodbridge, 
of StGckbridge, arrived at Fort Johnson, in order to know whether the Six 
Nations were coming down to a Meeting proposed to be held at Albany 
ye 22d. Inst., with them and the New England People, who were now come 
to Albany for ye purpose and had with them between three and four hundred 
pounds as a present to give ye iSix Nations in case they would consent to 
their (ye New England Peoples) settling, and enjoying the Land of and 
about Skahandowana* on the Susquahana 3 also six Bullocks and three bar- 

* One of the Indian names of Wyoming. W. L,^. 



SIR WILLIAM Johnson's diary. 393 



rels of Pork. This invitation was sent last autumn in writing, by one 
John Smith, who was with a number of his Country People at Skahando- 
wana, and delivered to Thomas King of Oyhquago, who I told them, had 
not I thought delivered it to the Six Nations. As I heard them say nothing 
about it when a few days ago assembled at my House. The before men- 
tioned gentlemen then made me an offer to be a Partner in ye Land, and 
to send, up the money tome, also the Bullocks and Pork, &c., that I might 
call ye Six Nations and give it them provided they agreed to their propo- 
sal, all which I refused with ye slight it deserved, and gave them my 
opinion on the whole affair, and also told them the unhappy consequences 
that would in all probability follow, should they (as they often hinted.) form 
a settlement in them parts. After many fruitless efforts to prevail'on me to 
join and assist them, they returned to Albany. 

The Mohawks who were yet present being desiious to know their busi- 
ness, were told it in part, and seemed very uneasy about it, giving it as 
their opinion, that if the New Englanders persisted in their design of set- 
tling said Lands, it would be of very bad consequences. 

Johnso7i Hall, Friday, March 25th, 1763. 

Severalof ye Mohawks came to acquaint me they had appointed proper 
persons to attend the Chenussio Meeting, and to know whether I would 
have them wait for ye General's answer to, or opinion of, what passed at 
ye late Meeting with ye Six Nations. Then Abraham their Chief spoke 
aa follows : 

Brother, We could not rest these two days past, since we heard that 
our Brethren of Connecticut werie so intent upon settling a number 
of their People at Skahanduwana,,and being fully sensible of ye fatal con- 
sequences that must attend a proceeding of ye nature, we in a full meeting 
of all our People resolved to come to you,and.beg you. would with this belt 
of Wampum and a letter fVom yourself acquaint our Brother the Governor 
of Connecticut that there is to be a Council of all ye Six Nations in a short 
time at Chenussio, where that affair [among other matters] will be thorough- 
ly considered, and therefore desire they may not move from New-England 
before they are made acquainted, with, the result thereof, Ga.ve a Belt. 

To which Sir William replied: 

Brethren, I approve of your appointment, and: as I undferstand that 
some of your People are going to Canajoharie to morrow, I would advise 
them to enquire of the Canajobarees what time they intend setting off for 
ye Meeting, and should it be found necessary to. set off before I receive 
ye General's answer and opinion of what passed at ye late Meeting. I 
Avill in that case forward it by a chosen Messenger, so that the Chenussio 
people may be acquainted therewithj and act accordingly. 

Brethren, I think your proposal of sending a Message to ye Governor 
of Connecticut to stop the People of bis government going to Wioming or 



394 EXTRACTS FROM 

Skahandowana until the result of the approaching Meeting of ye Six Nations 
at Chenussio is known thereon, is ^ friendly and prudent step, wherefore 
shall comply with your request, and hope the Governor may ^gree thereto. 

Then the Meeting broHe up, 

[The following letter from Governor Fitch, together with the proceedings 
of a council held with a Deputation of Chiefs sent from the Six Nations to 
Hartford, to remonstrate against the settlement of Wyoming by the people 
of Connecticut, I have discovered amoijg the manuscripts of Sir William 
Johnson ; — ] 

Governor Fitch to Sir William Johnson. 

Hartford, 30th, May, 1763. 

Sir, 

I have the Honour of your Letter by Lt. Johnson, acquainting me 
with the Delegation of the Confederate Nations of Indians. Five of them 
with the interpreter arrived here under Mr. Johnson's Conduct last Thurs- 
day, and on Saturday they were admitted to make their Speech and Deliver 
the Message they said they were charged with in the presence of the 
Council and Assembly. And this Day in like manner I made a Speech to 
them with which as the Interpreter informed, they were well satisfied- — I 
$hould have inclosed Copies of them but the Time is short and Lt. John- 
eon will have them, to which I beg leave to refer you 

Soon after receiving your Letter with the Speech and Belt some time 
ago, I received Orders from theSecretary of State signifying it as his Majes- 
ty's Pleasure I should use both Authority and Influence to prevent the 
prosecution of the Settlement of the Lands on the Susquehannah, &c., till 
the matter could be laid before the King, and in Consequence of those 
Orders (which I acquainted the principal Gentleman of the Company 
with) they have agreed to stop all proceedings towards a Settlement and 
acquiesce in the King's Order. I therefore conclude there will now remain 
no uneasiness among the Indians. 

1 am Sir with great regard your most obedient 

and most humble Servant 

THOS. FITCH 
Sir William Johnson, Baronet, 4*c. 

A CONFERENCE WITH DEPUTIES OF THE SIX NATIONS OF 
INDIANS. 

In the Council Chamber at Hartfotd, in the Colony of Connecticut, on 
tjie 28lh Day of May > 1763. 

Present 
The Governor, Council, and Assembly of said Colony. 
Togwerote Mohock 



SIR WILLIAM Johnson's diary. 395 



Sagagenguaraghta,(Speaker) ) ononda«Tas 1 

Toghuasquanlha Unonaagas 1^ Deputies of the 

Soheres ) nviiTia I Six Nations 

Oghsegwarona \ ^ayugas j 

G. Johnson, Esq., D. Agent, Attending 
with William Priiitup, Interpreter, sent by Sir Wm. Johnson, Agent for 
Indian Affairs^. 

The Deputies after being taken by the Ilaiid, and bid Welcome into 
the Government, seated themselves, Sagagenguaraghta, arose and deliv- 
ered a Speech, which from the Interpreter was taken as followeth, viz : 

Brethren, 

We were sent by the Chiefs of the six Nations, and it has pleased God 
that we are arived safe at this place to see you. 
Srethren, 

We are Deputies from all the Chiefs, and they understand that you are 
not quite sound within, and we give this to clear your eyes that you may 
see, and open your ears that you may hear, and cleanse your hearts that 
you may entertain cordially what we shall speak to you. 

A Belt of Wampum. 

Brethren, 

We have no Writings of it, but we have a Tradition that God, the 
Maker of all things hath given to the Six Nations our large Country to 
dwell and subsist in, and made them a strong People, and our Nations 
have of Old appointed a Fire Place at Onondauga, and by that means 
united together and so became a strong and Powerfull Confederacj^, and 
afterwards they saw at Albany a white People and found means to enter 
into a Conference with them and made a Silver Chain, a strong Chain of 
Friendship, which they and We have from Time to Time brightened and 
kept clean, and at this first Interview liked you so w ell, that we gave you 
room for you to settle upon our land, and you have since become very nu- 
merous and prosperous, for which we are glad and Rejoice. 

And Brothers, 

We have been very helpfull and assisted one another against our Ene- 
mies, and by tiie Help of God we have gained the superiority over them. 
And Brothers, 

You'll excuse us, we have no Recoi-ds of former Proceedings, but hint 
at such things as were done formerly by our Forefathers and have notliing 
further to offer on this Head. 

Now we are come to another Headi 
Brothers, 

We have heard very grievous News this Winter, that you were about lo 
come with Three hundred families to settle on our Lands which was very 
astonishing to Us, and that you designed to build Forts and strong Places, 
on our Lands, and for that Reason our Sachems considered upon it and 
have sent us down to this Place. By that Means, Brothers, we are here to 



396 EXTRACTS FROM 

acquaint you with what news we hear, that you have a Design to settle 
on the Susquahannah River and Claim the Land to the West Seas. 

We have heretofore given away Land to the white People but of the 
sale of this Land the Six Nations know Nothing that they have ever giv- 
en it away or sold it to any, and what Little we have left, we intend to 
keep for ourselves : we know not of any such Sale, and if any such thing 
has been asked, it must have been done by particular persons in a sepa- 
rate manner, and not in any General Meeting or Council of the Six Na- 
tions as has been the usual Manner of their giving or selling their Lands. 

Brothers, 

Our custom is not to keep anything secret. We have heard that one Lyd- 
ius, at Albany has endeavored to purchase some Lands at Susquahanna; 
and it is not the manner of the Six Nations to keep anything in Reserve, 
he was up among the Six Nations to obtain a Sale, but could not obtain 
it, but we have heard that he has since got a Deed from the Indians, which 
he obtained from them singly, or one by one, and that from stragglers and 
-such as we know nothing of. 

We have often sold Lands to the white People, but then it was done 
"With consent of the whole in some General meeting ; and this is the Land 
which we have reserved for ourselves as we have but little left, and we 
are surprised at such a measure being taken to obtain a Deed without our 
General knowledge or consent. 

We have been told that Lydias has reported that he paid a great deal of 
money for this Land, which we know nothing of; and this is our hunting 
Land which we depend upon for our support and are not willing by any 
means to part with it. 

[Then the Speaker presented a broad Belt which he held in his hands.] 

Brothers, 

We would have you take this matter into your serious Consideration. 
We here present you the Emblem of the Six Castles belonging to our 
Nations, and through it is the Road or Path through which we come to 
strengthen and confirm our covenant Chain, and consider whether settling 
on those Lands in such a manner, may not unhappily tend to break this 
covenant Chain. 
Brothers, 

Seriously take it into your consideration, and think'how you would like 
it, to have your lands taken from you in an unfair and injurious manner. 
You are a praying People, better acquainted with Books and Learning 
than we, and must needs know better what is right than to think it well 
to have your Lands as we may say stolen from you. Surely you could not 
like to be treated in such a manner, to have your Land taken from you 
that you depended upon for your support. 

Brothers, 

Take it seriously into your Consideration how strong our Union used to 



SIR WILLIAM Johnson's diary. 397 

be formerly, when we were as it were united under one head, and were 
one Body, and Blood, and happily united in our Affections. 

Brothers, 

As I have told You before, that we have been sent here by our Chiefs 
to let you know that we have heard about your Design of entering upon 
our Land, and we deliver in this Belt to show the minds of the confed- 
erate Nations, that you do not incroach on these Lands which we have re- 
served and design to keep for ourselves and our children to the latest pos- 
terity, and will not part with thenii; they are such as we set by and will 
not Bcll. 

Brothers, 

If you proceed to incroach on our Lands We shall not be Easy, but will 
return Home to our own places and apply ourselves to the the King our 
Father to obtain Justice, and I myself will, go, and on my going out of the 
house will return home, and Leave yoa to consider on it ; — and now I have 
said all I have to say. 

Then the Governor directed the Interpreter to tell them that he was able 
to give them a satisfactory Answer, and desired they would stay till the 
Beginning of the Week at which Time they should' have an Answer. 

To which they answered, that their Chiefs directed them to make no 
Delay, but as soon as they had made their Speech they were to return, but 
at the Governor's Desire they would stay for an Answer. They then 
withdrew. 

Att the Council! Chamber ia Hartford, May 30th, A. D. 1763. 
Present as above, 
viz : The Gorernor made answer to the Foregoing Speech in the words 
following. 

BRSTHREIf, 

We heartily welcome You to this Plnce, a^^are glad to see You safe 
arrived, and that You are sent by Your Chiefs to brighten, the Covenant 
Chain made by our Fore-Fathers. 

You tell us Your Chiefs think we are not all sound within, and give a 
Belt to Clear our Ej'es to see, open our Ears to hear, and make our Hearts 
clean that we may cordially receive what You speak to us. 
Brethre:^ : 

We are sorry your Chiefe think we are not soundwitbin ; we assure 
You our Eyes are clear, our Ears are open, and we cordially receive You 
as Friends and kindly receive your messag^e.. 
Brethren, 

We rejoice with You that God has prospered the arms of the Great King 
George our Common Father, so that Your and our Enemies are subdued, 
and now we hope we shall live in Peace and, Friendship as long as the Sun 
and Moon shall endure. 

We come now to Your Message, 

3^5 



39S . EXTRACTS, (SlC, 

Brethren, 

You tell us the news You have heard, that we were about to come with 
300 Families to settle an the Susquehannah River, which was very aston- 
ishing to You, and that we designed to build. Forts on Your I^and. 
Brethren : 

We assure and tell You this Government has not giveaaivy Orders fos 
any such Settlement; We are no. Ways concerned; in that matter, only aa. 
Friends to You have endeavoured to prevent thje People from going to set- 
tle those Lands. 

We have indeed been told that a Number of particular Persons,, som^ 
living in Connecticut, some in the Massachusetts, some in New-York, and 
some in other Governments were about to settle on these Lands, but we 
advised them not to proceed in their attempts. And Lately I received Orders 
from the King our Common Father commanding me to use my Authority 
and Influence to prevent those People from attempting to settle on those 
Lands till the matter should be laid before the King. 

In Obedience to his Majesty's Commands I acquainted the Chief men 
among them with the King's Ord.ers and advised thepi to lay aside the 
Prosecution of that Settlemeot Cor thje Present,. 
And Brethren, 

I have now the Satisfaction to acquaint You that I am Well informed 
those people have had a meeting and have in Testimony, as well of his 
Majesty's fatherly Care as of their ready Submission to, and acquiescence 
in, his Orders, unanimously agreed that noperson whatever of their Com- 
pany shall enter upon,or make any Settlemenfeon any of those Lands until 
his Majesty our common Father's pleasure be knovir« in that maiter,* 
Brethren : 

Seeing we are Your Friends, and agreable to the King's Orders have 
taken so much Care to prevent those Settlements which are so grevious to 
You, and have now given You accounts that the attempts are Stopt, we 
think You will be fully satisfied and inform our Brothers, your Chiefs and 
your Nations of thi«, and Rest easy and quiet. 

We assure You of our cordial Friendship and wish You a safe Journey 
Home, and desire You to present our kind Compliments to the Sachems oC 
the Six Nations. Farewell. 

To which the Deputy's of the Six Nations Replyed as follows, viz.; 

Brethren^ we have heard with attention what you have Said and are well 
pleased with the Same, and we hope you will Endeavour to prevent any 
more people from making purchases of us : and as to those Lands, we have 
Talked about, we Do not at present Design to part witli them, but if ever 
we Do, it Shall be to those purchasers of your people before any others If 
they Desire it; We are to Receive no presents on this Occasion, but 
as to your offer to Discharge our Expenses while in this town we Grate- 
fully Accept and Acknowledge the Same and heartily bid you Farewell. 

A true Copy examined By 

GEORGE WYLLYS, Sec'y. 



INDEX. 



* ^ # » » 



Abbott family, narrative of, 268. 

Albert^ j'^dge, 6 ; home of, 19 ; falls in battle, 45. 

jSlison, Rev. David, teacher of Thomas Campbell, xii. 

Armstrongs Colonel John, appointed commissioner for establish 
iug peace, 336; proceeds against Wyoming, 337 ; disarms 
the settlers by treachery, 338 ; second expedition against 
' Wyoming, 340 ; evacuates Wyoming, 343 ; note concern- 
ing his life, 343. 

Bennett, Mr., narrative of, 245. 

Bidlock, Rev. Benjamin, imprisonment, 186; narrative of, 247. 

Bidlock, Mrs., account of, 249. 

Blackman family, 263. 

Brainerd, Rev. David, where stationed, 66. 

Brant^ Statement regarding the sovereignty of the Aquanuschi- 
oni, 84 ; vindication of his character, 213. 

Broadhead's Creek, Indian name of, 71. 

Butler, Colonel John, invades Wyoming, 200 ; besieges Fort 
Forty, 211 ; conference with Col. Dennison at Fort Forty, 
241 ; his character, 245. 

Butler, Colonel Zebulon, taken at Fort Durkee, 172; invests 
Fort Wyoming, 175 ; justice of the peace for Westmore- 
land, 184; commands the forces of Wyoming, 203 ; escape 
from Fort Forty, 211 ; vindication of his conduct in the 
battle of Wyoming, 22. ; Epitaph of, 225 ; return to Wyo- 
ming, 228 ; goes to the aid of Capf. Spalding, 229. 

Campbell^ Alexander, xii ; residence in Virginia, xii. 
* 



400 INDEX. 

Campbell, Robert, brother of the poet, xii. 

Campbell, Thomas, ix; birth of, xi ; connexions of in America, 
xii ; education of, xii ; residence in Argyleshire and Edin- 
burgh, xiii ; writes of the ** Pleasures of Hope," xiv ; em- 
barks for Germany, xiv ; plundered in the Tyrol, xv ; 
residence at Hamburgh, xv ; return to England, xvi ; de- 
scription of the King of Clubs, xvii ; marriage and set- 
tlement at Sydenham, xviii ; publishes ''Gertrude of 
Wyoming," xviii ; criticism on his works by Irving, xix ; 
publishes " O'Connor's Child," xxii. 

Canassateego, sale of land, 86; speech of at the council to the 
Delawares, 88 ; anecdote concerning him by Dr. Frankliuj 
91. 

Canestogoe Indians, massacre of by fanatics, 154. 

Carey, Samuel, narrative of, 264. 

Connecticut, charter of, 130 ; project of regarding a colony at 
Wyoming, 133. 

" Death of the Fratricide,''^ poem by W^hittier, 216. 

Delaware Indians^ prophecy regarding their destruction, &Q ; 
legendary history of, 82 ; nomenclature of, 84 ; subjugation 
of by the Six Nations, 85 ; council at Philadelphia, 86 ; 
removal of to Shamokiu and Wyoming, 92; subjugated 
by artifice, 94 ; expel the Shawanese, 103 j go over to the 
French, 107 ; devastate Pennsylvania, 108 ; pacified by the 
Quakers, 109 ; council of at Easton, 111 ; overreadied in 
sale of land at Nashamony Creek, 115 ; reconciliation of 
to the English, 117 ; intercept a French dispatch, 125 ; 
send a message of peace to Sir William Johnson, 127 ; at- 
tack and destroy the settlement of the Susquehanna Com- 
pany, 146 ; withdraw to Tioga, 154 ; ravage Wyoming and 
attack the Slocum family, 289. 

Delaware Water Gap, view of, from Pequest river, 65 ; geologi- 
cal formation of, 67 ; appearance of at morning, 68 ; route 
from to Wyoming, 71. 

Dennison, Colonel, at the battle of Wyoming, 205 ; at Fort For- 
ty, 211 ; vindication of his conduct, 225 ; account of his 
life, 227. 



INDEX. 401 

Dennnj, Lieutenant Governor, conducts the Council of Easton, 
112. 

Dorrance, Colonel Benjamin, account of the surrender of Fort 
Forty, 214. 

Dyer, Colonel Eliphalet, embassy of to England, 143 ; commis- 
sioner for deciding the Wyoming question, 321. 

Easton, Urst council of, 111; second council of, 112; third 
council of, 128 ; fourth council of, 128. 

Ewing, Colonel George W., discovers Frances Slocum, 295 ; 
publishes an account of her, 297; letter to J. J. Slocum, 
303. 

Fitch, Governor, disavows the acts of the Susquehanna Compa- 
ny, 142 ; proclamation of, 144. 

Five Nations, vide Six Nations. 

Fort du Qucsne, evacuation of by the French, 123. 

Fort Durkee, built, 164; invested by Col. Francis, 165 ; surren- 
der, 166 ; recaptured by the Susquehanna Company, 167 ; 
surprised by Capt. Ogden, 171 ; retaken by Lazarus Stew- 
art, 173 ; surrenders to the Pennsylvania Proprietaries, 174; 
abandoned by Ogden, 175. 

Fort Wyoming, built, 175 ; invested by Butler and Stewart, 175 ; 
surrender, 179 ; name changed to Fort Dickinson, 323. 

Franklin, Benjamin, anecdote by concerning Canassateego, 91. 

Franklin^ John, besieges Fort Dickinson, 333 ; garrisons Fort 
Forty, 341 ; carries a block-house, 340; stirs up a commo- 
tion against Pennsylvania, 349 ; arrested 349 ; member of 
the Legislature, 365. 

Franklin, Captain Roswell, account of, 363, 

Gertrude of Wyoming, 3 ; her extraction and infancy, 7 ; mai- 
denhood of, 20 ; apostrophe of to England, 21 ; reads 
Shakspeare in the woods, 23 ; meets Waldegrave, 24 ; re- 
cognizes Waldegrave, 26 ; her courtship and marriage, 29; 
honeymoon, 33, 34; her fears at the approach of war, 36 ; 
at the fort with Waldegrave, 44 ; is wounded, 45 ; her fare- 
well, 45 ; her death, 47. 

Gi-en-gwah-toh, commands the Indians at Wyoming, 205 ; de- 
scription of, 214. 



402 INDEX. 

Hamilton, James, opposition of to the Susquehanna Company, 

134. 
Hammond, William, murder of, 218. 
"Hazkion (The) Travellers," notice of, 214 
Heath House, 63. 
Hendrick, transactions of regarding the purchase of "Wyoming, 

126 ; death of, 126. 
Hibhard, Zippera, narrative of, 264. 
Hope, town of, 65 ; inn of, 65. 
Hopkins, Noah, escape of from massacre, 151. 
Jnwaw /amtVy, narrative of, 252. 
Jenkins, Mrs. Bethia, narrative of, 261. 
Jenkins, Colonel John, narrative of, 255. 
Johnson, Sir William, opposition of to war with the Delawares, 

109 ; sends a deputation to the council at Lancaster, 118 ; 

censures Teedyuscung, 118 ; efforts towards peace with the 

Indians, 123; alienates the Senecas and Cayugas from the 

French, 127 ; opposes the Susquehanna Company, 141 ; 

letter to Gov. Fitch, 145. 
Johnstone, Rev. Mr., 328. 
Kent^ Judge, country seat of, 61. 
Kittanniny Hills, orthography of, 71. 
Lehigh River, appearance of its waters, 75. 
Lenelenappes, vide Delaware Indians. 
Logan, derivation of his name, 91. 
Luzerne County, organization of, 344. 
Mackintosh, Sir James, xvii. 

Montour, Catharine, or Queen Esther, account of, 208. 
Monument of Wyoming, 239. 
Moravians, first visit of to Wyoming, 98 ; establish a mission 

there, 102. 
Moravian Indians, threatened hy riotous zealots, 156 ; removal 

to Mahackloosing, 158. 
Morris, Governor, letter of to Gov. Shirley, 107 ; letter of to Sir 

William Johnson, 110. 
Munseys or Minisink Indians, 82. 
Muscontcong or Schooley^s Mountains, description of, 62. 



INDEX. 403 

Myers, Mrs., nairative of, 241. 

Nantkoke Indians, settlement of at Wyoming, 98 ; removal to 
Chemunk, 106. 

Nantkoke Falls, description of, 98 ; fight there, 1^0. 

Ogden, Amos, at the attack on Fort Durkee, 165 ; besieged in a 
block-house, 167 ; surprises the Connecticut settlers, 170; 
recaptures Fort Durkee, 171 ; third attack on Fort Durkee, 
174; builds Fort Wyoming, 175 ; runs the blockade of Fort 
Wyoming, 176 ; raises reinforcements, 177 ; wounded, 
179. 

Outalissi, brings Waldegrave to Wyoming, 8 ; addresses Albert* 
8 ; description of, 13 ; cradle song of, 13 ; departs, 15 ; 
returns to Wyoming, 37 ; meets and addresses Waldegrave, 
28 ; proclaims the approach of Brandt, 40 ; chants a battle- 
song, 42 ; death-song, 48. 

Penn, Governor, refuses to treat with the Susquehanna Com- 
pany, 138; opposes the colony of Westmoreland, 185. 

Pennsylvania Proprietaries, oppose the Revolution, 319 ; their 
government expires, 320; indemnity voted them by Penn- 
sylvania, 320. 

Pickering, Colonel Timothy, arbitrator, 345 ; assists in the ar- 
rest of John Franklin, 350 ; assailed by insurgents and es- 
capes, 350 ; chosen a delegate, 353 ; returns to Wyoming, 
353; -abduction, 354, 

Pike, Abraham, captured by Indians, 280 ; escape, 280 ; cbarac- 
ter, 283. 

Plunkctt, Colonel, marches against Wyoming, 188 ; abandons 
the expedition, 193. 

Plymouth Company, charter of, 129. 

Pokono Mountain, view from the summit of, 74. 

Post, Christian Frederick, embassy of to the Indians, 119; holds 
a council at Fort du Quesne, 120 ; second embassy of, 123. 

Prospect Rock, on Pokono Mountain, prospect from, 77. 

Quakers, opposition of to war with the Delawares, 109 ; influence 
with, the Indians, 119. 

Ross, General William, narrative of, 236, 

Say and Seal, Lord, grant to, ] 30. 



404 INDEX. 

Shamokin, location of, &c., 91. 

Shawanesc Flatts, 84. 

Shawanese Indians, wandering of, 83 ; settle at Wyoming, 84 ; 
war with the Delawares and expulsion from Wyoming, 103; 
war with the English, 108 ; message of peace to Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, 127. 

Shoemaker, Captain, murder of, 218. 

Six Nations, their sovereignty over the Delawares, 84 ; adoption 
of the Tuscaroras, 85 ; council at Philadelphia, 85 ; artifice 
for subjugating the Delawares, 94 ; Senecas and Cayugas 
alienated from the French, 127 ; council at Easton, 128 ; 
commencement of hostilities against the Americans, 196. 

Slocum family, 288 ; losses in the battle of Wyoming, 288 ; 
Louse attacked by Delawares, 289 ; second attack by the 
Indians, 292. 

Slocum, Frances, taken into captivity, 291 ; search made for her, 
293 ; discovered, 295 ; visited by her relatives, 306 ; nar- 
ratve of her captivity, 309. 

Spalding, Captain, commands at Wilkesbarre, 229 ; assailed by 
Indians, 229. 

Stroudsburg, 71 ; becomes an asylum for the fugitives, 220. 

Sullivan, General, passes through Wyoming, 231^ 

Susquehanna Company, formation of, 133 ; deputation of to the 
council at Albany, 134; purchase Wyoming, 135 ; procure 
a charter, 138 ;' settle Wyoming, 140 ; settlement destroyed 
by the Delawares, 146 ; resettle Wyoming, 160 ; apply to 
Connecticut for protection, 182; elect a government of their 
own, 182 ; their case submitted to EngHsh arbitration, 184; 
received into the colony of Connecticut, 184 ; renew their 
efibrts to pour settlers into Wyoming, 348. 

Tadame, murder of, 106. 

Teedyuscung, history of, 72 ; baptism of, 73 ; chosen chief sa- 
chem, 106 ; present at the council of Easton, 111; speech at 
the council of Easton, 113; proposes a council at Lancaster, 
118 ; his authority at the third council of Easton, 128 ; in- 
terposes in favor of the Susquehanna Company, 139 ; death, 
146 ; remarks on his character, 148. 



INDEX. 405 

Thomas, Lt. Gov. George, present at the Indian council, 85; re- 
marks on the purchase of land, 87. 

Thompson, Charles, appointed secretary to Teedyuscung, 113. 

Turkey, Anthony, account of and death, 274. 

Twightwees, outrage on at Fort du Quesne, 125. 

Van Campcn, Major Moses, builds a fort, 276 ; acts as spy on 
Sullivan's expedition, 277 ; entrapped by Indians, 278 ; es- 
capes, 280. 

Waldcgrave, brought to Wyoming, 8 ; returns from foreign 
climes, 24 ; describes his travels, 25 ; recognized by Ger- 
trude, 26 ; marriage, 29 ; goes to the conflict, sorrow for 
Gertrude, 48. 

Weeks family, 275. 

Weeks, Jonathan, driven from Wyoming, 273. 

Wekahela, SLCCOwnt of, 113. 

Weld, Isaac, account of Wyoming', 2. 

West Branch Plantation, destruction of by Westmoreland mili- 
tia, 186. 

Westmoreland, chartered, 184. 

Wilkesharre, valley of, 78 ; borough of, 79 ; burnt, 213 ; fort 
built there, 229. 

Williams family, narrative of, 272. 

Wyoming, apostrophe to, 3 ; desolation of (poetic description)^ 
35 ; poetic account of the battle of Wyoming, 41 ; route to, 
61 ; topography of, 79 ; nomenclature of, 80 ; removal of 
the Delawares to, 92; tradition concerning its silver mines, 
97 ; first visited by the Moravians, 98 ; mission of the Mo- 
ravians, 102 ; explored by the Susquehanna Company, 333 ; 
purchased by the Susquehanna Company, 135 ; settled 
from Connecticut, 140 ; purchased by the Pennsylvania 
Proprietaries, 159 ; resettled by the Susquehanna Company, 
160 ; leased to Charles Stewart, &c., 161 ; troubles be- 
tween the Proprietaries and the Connecticut settlers, 162 ; 
governed by the Connecticut settlers, 182; troubles with 
Gov. Penn, 185 ; destruction of West Branch Plantation, 
186 ; interposition of Congress, 187 ; invaded by Col. Plun- 
kett, 188 ; population of, 194 ; espouses the cause of the 



406 INDEX. 

Revolution, 195 ; seizure of suspected citizens, 196 ; com- 
mencement of tory and Indian hostilities, 197 ; forces and 
defences, 199 ; invaded by Col. John Butler, 200; list of 
tories settled there, 201 ; battle, 204 ; defeat and slaughter 
of 'the settlers, 206 ; list of the killed, 208 ; massacre in the 
" Shades of Death," 210 ; atrocities of the tories, 214; fra- 
tricide, 215 ; incidents of the massacre, 218 ; return of the 
fugitives to secure their crops, 228 ; arrival of Gen. Sulli- 
van, 231 ; committee for the abatement of the State tax, 
234 ; condition during the remainder of the war, 233 ; 
monument, 239 ; opening of the grave of the massacred, 
286 ; peopled after the Revolution from Connecticut, 318 ; 
claimed by Pennsylvania, 320 ; Congress decides in favor 
of Pennsylvania, 321 ; Pennsylvania endeavors to eject the 
settlers, 322 ; memorial of the settlers to Congress, 326 ; 
severe winter and flood, 326; the settlers plundered and 
exiled by the Pennsylvania military, 331 ; the exiles in- 
vited to return, 332; struggle between the settlers and the 
garrison of Fort Dickinson, 333 ; force sent to subjugate the 
settlers, 336 ; Col. Armstrong disarms the settlers by treach- 
ery, 338 ; the council side with the settlers, 341 ; second 
appeal of Wyoming to Congress, 343 ; Wyoming formed 
into Luzerne County, 344 ; meeting of commissioners for 
arbitration of claims, 348 ; new settlers poured in by the 
Susquehanna Company, 348 ; Franklin stirs up new trou- 
bles, 349 ; Wyoming represented in the General Assembly, 
366 ; final pacification, 367. 

Young, Mrs. Phebe, narrative of, 284. 

Zinzendoi-f, Count, visits Wyoming, 99 ; escapes assassination 
by the Shawanese, 99. 



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